Mental Health Mapping Dashboard

About the Dashboard

The Mental Health Mapping Dashboard gives advocates an inside look at what resources are available to students in school districts across the state. It also gives us a roadmap to where and how we can expand access to school-based mental health resources so we can improve outcomes for our state’s young people and set them up for a lifetime of success.

For questions or assistance, please reach out to NC Child Research and Data Analyst Ashtin Crawford at ashtin@ncchild.org

School-based Mental Health Resources in North Carolina

Healthy students come to school engaged and ready to learn, and that makes providing support and resources critical to their overall success. School-based services and the promotion of healthy activities can fill gaps in communities that otherwise lack access to care, reduce barriers parents face in accessing care for their children, and foster healthier children to improve academic outcomes. However, too many students in North Carolina do not have access to school-based services or opportunities that positively impact their mental health. This matters because the data tells us that our students are in crisis.

Right now in North Carolina:

  • Suicide is the third leading cause of death for youth ages 10-17, falling right behind motor vehicle injuries and homicide.
  • 1 in 5 high schools students reported seriously considering attempting suicide in 2021 and 1 in 10 reported making a suicide attempt.
  • In 2023, about 4 in 10 high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness to the point that it disrupted their normal day-to-day life for two weeks or more at a time.
  • Between 2016 and 2023, the number of children with anxiety or depression more than doubled.

This data is deeply troubling, but we have the ability to improve. This starts with meeting children where they are and ensuring that they have access to resources in the places where they spend most of their time–at school.