New Hanover County hosts first ever Critical Response and Readiness Conference

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY)– A first-of-its-kind event held in Wilmington Tuesday, with a goal of helping various New Hanover County employees deal with the mental health and substance abuse crisis.  

“All the community partners, all the volunteers, everybody wanted to be here because they see an opportunity to make a difference,” said Bo Dean, New Hanover County Senior HR Analysis and Event Chair.  

A new program is in place to train New Hanover County teachers, school resource officers, and mental health therapists on how to effectively respond to moments of crisis.  

“We’re going to really make sure that people that are in those roles have what they need in their tool box, to really be able to, when they’re encountering any kind of mental health struggle, or any substance use disorders struggle, anything like that, they’re going to have things in their tool box to really be responsive,” said Dean.  

One highlight of the event was the unveiling of the county’s Community Resource Portal. 

The portal is an online guide for anyone seeking mental health, substance abuse, housing, food insecurity, and other emergency assistance in New Hanover County. 

“They won’t have to worry about pieces of paper or anything like that, and then it’s updateable so that any of that information doesn’t become stale, and you are able to actually come back and get more information as new resources become available or phone numbers change,” said Dean

Dean says these training sessions and the resource portal are just the first steps in making sure county employees are ready in times of crisis.

After today’s inaugural event, this conference will be held every year for the next 4 years.