Investigating Secondary Educators’ Perceptions of North Carolina’s School-Based Mental Health Policy

This qualitative instrumental case study was designed to examine secondary teachers’ and perspectives of SHLT-003, North Carolina’s school-based mental health policy in North Carolina, known as SHLT-003, which mandates all educators be trained in identifying, referring, and supporting, students showing signs of mental health issues, drug use, suicidal ideation, and sex trafficking. The legislation passed in 2020 to combat the rising rates of mental health issues and other barriers to student health and success in the state. The legislation mandated six hours of training and was first implemented in the 2021-2022 school year. The findings of this study reveal that though educators' intention of the legislation was good, the roll out was poorly executed, there are polarized views of the training series, and the legislation failed to address many educators’ needs.