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alcohol abuse

Shows an old photo of a woman hugging a little boy, they're both smiling.

Does North Carolina do enough to help children affected by a mom’s prenatal alcohol use?

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Does North Carolina do enough to help children affected by a mom’s prenatal alcohol use? - North Carolina Health News

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is more common than many people think, with as many as one in 20 children affected. Many end up in foster care, special-education classes and often the courts, jails and prisons.

By Anne Blythe The courtroom on the seventh floor of the Wake County Justice Center was quiet as Judge Vince Rozier read a report from the mother of the 28-year-old defendant awaiting sentencing. That mother, Theresa Morris-Brown, is a petite 63-year-old woman with a gargantuan will to help the man she welcomed into her life […]

A mural reading 'hope' and 'patience' in a gym at Emerald School of Excellence, the state's first recovery high school

NC’s first recovery high school opens in Charlotte

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NC’s first recovery high school opens in Charlotte - North Carolina Health News

Emerald School of Excellence, North Carolina’s first school focused on helping teens with substance use disorders, opens its doors this school year.

By Yen Duong Under a hot August sun, around 120 supporters, volunteers and well-wishers sweated several Saturdays ago through the ribbon-cutting of a unique North Carolina high school, the Emerald School of Excellence in Charlotte. Housed on the second floor of an auxiliary building of Memorial United Methodist Church, the year-round recovery high school opened […]

From behind, shows a man holding the hand of a little boy. Whether this is a parent or a foster parent is unknown, but the child appears calm and cared for.

Foster care bill could allow for faster termination of parental rights

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Foster care bill could allow for faster termination of parental rights - North Carolina Health News

Advocates point to new brain science on the importance of early childhood bonding, but those involved in the child welfare system say it could allow for a too-easy severing of important family connections.

By Rose Hoban The way Rachel Lankford puts it, as a girl, she didn’t spend hours playing in the sandbox, hoping to become addicted to opioids, or alcohol, or marijuana. But she did. By the time she was 20, Lankford had lived hard. Her adolescence, in particular, had been hard. First came a divorce between […]

shows counties, some light to signify no cases and some dark to signify a higher case rate

Health officials battle increase in rural STD rates

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Health officials battle increase in rural STD rates - North Carolina Health News

Sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis can spread quickly in rural areas, where access to medical screening is harder to find and fewer people are aware of the problem.

By Liz Carey Daily Yonder An increase in sexually transmitted diseases across the country isn’t as surprising to health professionals as is the insight that rates of STDs are rising more in rural areas than in urban areas. Health officials are working to educate rural residents about the dangers of unprotected sex and to make […]

a Crossnore graduate sits behind the wheel of a new car, he holds the air freshener hanging from the rear view mirrow

Driving foster children to success

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Driving foster children to success - North Carolina Health News

Starting this year, children at Crossnore School and Children’s Home will receive a car when they graduate high school.

By Yen Duong With the dogwoods, rhododendrons and mountain laurels in bloom, the Marjorie Williams Academy graduation ceremony on June 1 was already perfect. The entire senior class had received copies of the Dr. Seuss classic, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” signed by legislative leaders and their surprise graduation speaker, Gov. Roy Cooper, who also […]

man stands on the steps of an old brick house, checking envelopes from the mailbox

Healing Transitions Alumni Makes the Most of His Situation

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Healing Transitions Alumni Makes the Most of His Situation - North Carolina Health News

The Raleigh-based program has graduated more than 800 people into lives of recovery from drugs and alcohol. A graduate shows it's possible to stay that way, but it takes effort.

By Jared Weber Spend a bit of time around any one of four “transition homes,” scattered around Raleigh and there’s a pretty good chance you’ll see Michael McDade fixing something. McDade — better known to those in the program as “Big Mike” — juggles several jobs these days, including a full-time position grilling food at […]

Mary Belk Wants Her Health History to Shape Her Legislative Advocacy

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Mary Belk Wants Her Health History to Shape Her Legislative Advocacy - North Carolina Health News

Neither breast cancer nor a battle with alcohol abuse nor partisan North Carolina politics show any signs of slowing District 88’s House Representative Mary Belk.

By Judy Cole Mary Belk has been active in politics for as long as she can remember. She learned the power of grassroots canvassing at her mother’s knee. While Belk and her mom stumped for Harvey Gantt from early days, the unlikely inspiration she credits for her eventual career as a professional politician is, of […]

shows the interior of a car at night, looking out at a poorly lit road

Smartphone Distractions, Drinking Help Spur Rising Pedestrian Death Toll

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Smartphone Distractions, Drinking Help Spur Rising Pedestrian Death Toll - North Carolina Health News

Last year, North Carolina's pedestrian death rate ticked up. It was part of a national trend.

By Paul Feldman FairWarning Pedestrian deaths are surging across the nation, and analysts are putting much of the blame on drivers and walkers who are looking at their smartphones instead of watching where they are going. Tipsy walking also is part of the problem, with one in three victims legally drunk when they were struck […]

A baby is sitting in his mom's lap. There are more uninsured children in North Carolina compared to two years ago.

Report: N.C. Children Are Healthier and Graduating, but Face More Poverty

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Report: N.C. Children Are Healthier and Graduating, but Face More Poverty - North Carolina Health News

Children in North Carolina make improvements in health and education, but continue to face significant financial barriers to well-being. By Minali Nigam North Carolina’s Generation Z kids and teens are making healthier choices and more of them are graduating from school, but they lack economic opportunities and financial stability, as their families struggle to recover […]

Colleen Sheehey-Church, head of the national office for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, explains that ignition interlocks could save more lives, as other mothers of children killed by drunk drivers look on. Photo credit: Rose Hoban

Stronger Drunk-Driving Restrictions Urged

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Stronger Drunk-Driving Restrictions Urged - North Carolina Health News

Stricter restrictions on first-time offenders could save lives, advocates argue. This year, legislators may be listening. By Rose Hoban Carolyn Carter still chokes up when she talks about the 2013 death of her son Shane. “He was 21, one week before Mother’s Day, when a 13th-time [drunk-driving] offender hit Shane head-on at 70 miles an […]

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