By Grace Vitaglione
The North Carolina General Assembly passed over $604 million in Helene disaster relief on Oct. 24, with $71.4 million earmarked for supporting local health departments, mental health services, disaster nutrition assistance and child care, among other health-related measures.
House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) said the bill is “another step” toward recovery; lawmakers passed $273 million for relief earlier in October.
Moore said legislative staff and the state Department of Health and Human Services worked together on the health measures in the bill.
The money falls short of the $3.9 billion of initial funds recommended by Gov. Roy Cooper for relief from conditions created when the remnants of Hurricane Helene ripped through western North Carolina at the end of September. Cooper’s office released a preliminary damage and needs assessment on Oct. 23 that found at least 55 child care centers sustained damage that prevented reopening, and 145 health care facilities were evacuated.
The General Assembly’s bill appropriated $10 million for the North Carolina Partnership for Children to distribute to local Smart Start programs to help child care centers and family care homes reopen and maintain operations through cleaning, repairs and relocating.
Sen. Julie Mayfield (D-Asheville) said the bill “falls short” and that western communities need a faster response. The $1 million allocated for rental assistance in the bill for those facing a housing crisis isn’t enough to help displaced residents, she said.
Moore told reporters the legislature will return in November after the election to pass more funding for hurricane relief.
‘Fragile populations’
Moore pointed to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and nursing home residents as some of the vulnerable groups particularly affected by the storm.
That’s part of the reason why the bill extended initial licenses for adult care homes and family care homes, as well as directed part of a $25 million fund toward supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The rest of the fund was allocated for mental health crisis supports.
The bill also channeled $1.4 million to county departments of social services to support vulnerable adults to reduce the need for protective services and institutionalization.
“You have some very fragile populations that are impacted in ways that those who were in good health aren’t,” Moore said.
Another $5 million went to boosting mental health services in public schools for students, families and staff. The goal is to help with the recovery process, trauma care and reintegration into academic life.
Research shows children can be more vulnerable to adverse, long-term mental health effects after a hurricane, but experts say most young people are resilient.
Rep. Karl Gillespie (R-Franklin) said in a meeting of the Committee on Rules, Calendar and Operations of the House that he’s concerned with so many students displaced by the storm, many won’t return to school.
The money for mental health services is targeted to preventing that.
Schools can contract with community partners to provide mental health services. They can also use the funds to hire or contract with school health personnel and/or licensed mental health professionals to provide services such as assessments, diagnosis, treatment or counseling.
The bill stipulates that services can be provided in person or through telehealth in individual, family or group settings.
Each eligible public school unit will get an initial $30,000, according to the bill. The Department of Public Instruction will distribute the rest based on allotted average daily attendance levels.
The community college system was also allocated $1.25 million to expand mental health services for community college students and staff affected by the storm and its aftermath.
Governor’s recommendations
The governor’s office, on Oct. 23, had released a preliminary damage and needs assessment that predicted the total cost of damage from Helene will be over $53 billion, a sum that drove his recommended $3.9 billion proposal.
Cooper’s office had recommended $251.6 million in funding for Health and Human Services, in areas such as public health, food insecurity and community health centers; legislators appropriated only a fraction of that amount.
The two largest individual pots of money will be $100 million each for water and wastewater infrastructure repair and for loans to local government entities. Much of that money will eventually be reimbursed by federal disaster funds.
The region of western N.C. affected by Helene includes a higher percentage of older residents than the rest of the state and has many rural communities where it’s a challenge to access health care and social services, the governor’s report said. Over 40 percent of the state’s Medicaid population lives in the area.
“It is no exaggeration to describe Helene as the deadliest and most damaging storm ever to hit North Carolina,” Cooper said at a news conference Oct. 23 about the assessment.
Other funding measures in the bill:
- Allocates $12 million to local health departments for restoring essential functions, including temporary staffing, communicable disease and infection prevention efforts, environmental health efforts, and private well water quality efforts.
- Allocates $10 million to match federal funds for operating D-SNAP, a federal program to provide food assistance to low-income households with food loss or damages caused by Hurricane Helene.
- Allocates $9 million to county departments of social services to provide energy assistance to households and $3 million to provide essential services and supports to children involved in the child welfare system.
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