NC Child Fatality Panel Urges Meta Money

RALEIGH, N.C. — A state panel that studies how to prevent child deaths wants the General Assembly to pay for more school nurses, counselors, social workers and psychologists next year, and it sees North Carolina’s settlement with Meta as one way to cover the bill.

The Child Fatality Task Force voted Tuesday to ask lawmakers for recurring funding for those school support jobs, naming the social media settlement as a possible source. Members laid out their priorities ahead of the legislative session that opens in January, when Democrats will control the state House and Republicans will hold a narrow Senate majority.

The state would need roughly four times its current number of school social workers and psychologists to meet nationally recommended staffing ratios, according to the task force’s committee on preventing intentional deaths. Because state money falls short, districts often blend state and local dollars to fill those jobs, and small, rural counties without spare local funds frequently leave them vacant. Whether a student can see a nurse or counselor often depends on which school they attend.

The 2026 state budget added no new money for those positions, and the state’s 2025 child health report card graded North Carolina an F on mental health. In the 2025 statewide youth risk survey, close to 30% of high school students reported feeling sad or hopeless, and over 11% said they had seriously thought about suicide. School nurses logged 579,000 counseling sessions with students in 2024-25, including 18,000 tied to depression, suicidal thoughts or other mental health problems.

The Meta settlement could bring the state as much as $645 million by 2035, with at least $451 million guaranteed and up to $194 million more if other big platforms such as YouTube and TikTok adopt safety measures. North Carolina received the first payment, $45.2 million, in October. The legislature decides how the money is spent, and Attorney General Jeff Jackson has suggested using some of it to hire more school health workers, along with crisis helplines for children and after-school and summer programs. Task force leaders said bills are already being drafted to make sure the money goes to children.

Filed under: Raleigh NC Education News