Just a month after Helene ravaged western North Carolina last fall, state lawmakers approved recovery funding that included $5 million for "increased mental health services" for students and staff in affected school districts "to assist with the recovery process, trauma care and reintegration into academic life."
Six months later, much of that money has not been used – and it’s unclear exactly how much has been spent. While the mental health funding is a small fraction of the Helene recovery funding approved by the state legislature, the allocation illustrates the challenges of getting state disaster resources quickly to those who need it most.
The October legislation called for the Department of Public Instruction to distribute and track the mental health funding and issue a report to lawmakers by March 15.
But that report included outdated data, showing only spending that was reported to DPI by Dec. 31. At that point, only about $19,000 of the $5 million had been spent – roughly 0.4%. Asked if the agency had any updated data, a DPI spokesman said no additional details were available and referred questions to the school districts receiving the money.
WUNC contacted 29 public school districts that received a share of the funding, and several clarified that while the March DPI report showed they’d spent none of the money, they’ve since put it to use.
"We have used the majority of the funding to provide a school social worker, and the remaining funds are being used to partner with Kintegra, our mental health provider, to offer a summer program to select students," said Hickory City Schools spokeswoman Natasha Eckard.
Some said it took time to develop an effective plan for spending the funding. Jackson County, for example, initially heard from telehealth providers offering services, but decided to use local mental healthcare providers instead for outpatient therapy and crisis intervention services.
The goal was to "ensure that services were delivered in person and that funding remained within our community," said the district’s director of mental health, Meagan Crews. "We took the necessary time to establish strong working relationships and formalize those partnerships through memorandums of understanding. These services are now actively being provided to students, and our local providers will be submitting invoices for reimbursement."
Funding based on numbers, not needs
But not every district had a use for the money. DPI distributed the funding based on school enrollment numbers across counties that qualified for FEMA assistance. That meant some went to places that saw limited impacts and disruptions from Helene; Gaston County, for example, got the largest share of the $5 million with $484,000 – despite minimal storm damage compared to its neighbors to the west. Gaston County officials did not respond to an inquiry for this story about how the funding was used.
Newton-Conover City Schools, in Catawba County, didn’t spend its $70,000 share, which was more than the amount hard-hit Avery County received. "We were unable to use these funds because we did not have any mental health issues related to Helene," Newton-Conover Schools spokesman John Robinson said in an email.
Polk County did have impacts from the storm and some students and staff needed mental health assistance in the aftermath, Superintendent Aaron Greene said. District leaders there will develop a plan over the summer to spend its $61,000 allocation, likely contracting with outside mental health providers or training district staff to provide the services.
"It took us a bit of time to figure out what we could use the money for, and what our existing expenditures were in terms of mental health," Greene said. "It certainly won’t go to waste."
Greene added that students and staff received mental health services using the district’s existing resources in the weeks following Helene.
Multiple districts said there was confusion about how the funding could be spent. Catawba County initially planned to use its share on school counselor salaries for existing employees, but learned that the money could only be used for additional hires. "At this time, we have not hired any additional counselors with this funding," spokesperson Kim Jordan said.
Other districts noted that the mental health funding can be anytime between now and 2030.
"Our portion of the financing was roughly $100,000, and we intend to draw some of the money down this year for mental health support with a plan to exhaust the funds over the next few years," McDowell County Schools Superintendent Tracy Grit said. "We are grateful for the funding and will work diligently to ensure these funds support student mental health."
Lincoln County, meanwhile, has spent about $56,000 of its $203,000 allocation so far on outside mental health contracts, but "we do not expect to fully expend the total allocation," a spokesperson told WUNC.
Concerns about the tracking of state disaster funding extends beyond the mental health provision. Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, told WUNC in March that "we don't have a clear picture of how much has been spent" from bills passed last year.
The latest disaster relief bill, approved in March, includes more frequent reporting requirements for the agencies administering the funding.
WUNC previously reported that while the legislature approved $1.1 billion in Helene recovery funding last fall, $750 million was still unspent as of mid-February.
