What is TCL?

In North Carolina, people diagnosed with serious mental illness are sometimes placed in institutions (like adult care homes) even though they would rather live in the community. In 2012, the State of North Carolina entered into a settlement agreement with the United States Department of Justice and created a program to help people transition out of adult care homes. This program is called the Transitions to Community Living  (TCL). This program helps people transition out of adult care homes and state hospitals, and helps to keep people from entering them in the first place. It is designed to give people who have a serious mental illness a chance to live, work, and participate in their communities.

If you are living in an Adult Care Home or other institution and are diagnosed with a serious mental illness,

or a serious and persistent mental illness, the TCL program might be able to help you.[i] It can give you the chance to live in your own home with the supports you need to help you find and maintain community housing and services.

In general, TCL eligibility requires that participants be:

  • On Medicaid, eligible for Medicaid, OR have monthly income of $2,000/month or less
  • Diagnosed with a serious and persistent mental illness or a serious mental illness
  • Currently reside in or considered for admission to an Adult Care Home (ACH) or Family Care Home (FCH) OR are being discharged from a state psychiatric facility into homelessness
  • Are age 18 or over and willing to accept tenancy support services

TCL services include: 

  • Supported housing, including vouchers or rental subsidies for community-based supported housing. Community-based mental health services and support such as Assertive Community Treatment (ACT)
  • Supported employment services to prepare for, identify, and maintain integrated, paid, competitive employment
  • Transition planning to assist with discharge and transition from institutional settings

If you have questions about whether you qualify for TCLI services or you wish to apply, contact your Local  Management Entity / Managed Care Organization(LME/MCO)/Tailored Plan (TP) and ask to speak to someone about the TCL program. See the list below to find the LME/MCO/TP that covers your county.

Individuals who have a legal guardian of the person (not guardian of the estate) must notify the guardian before applying to the TCL program. Your guardian must consider where you want to live before deciding whether you must stay in an institution or transition into the community.[ii]

Learn more about TCL

Updates on the TCLI settlement

If you have trouble accessing the TCL program, please contact us.

You may also contact NC DHHS:  If you know about a barrier to community living, please submit the barrier details to:  Olmstead.Barriers@dhhs.nc.gov

 

LME/MCO contact information by county

Vaya Health

Phone: 800-962-9003

Counties Served: Alamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Caldwell, Caswell, Chatham, Cherokee, Clay, Franklin, Graham, Granville, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Person, Polk, Rockingham, Rowan, Stokes, Swain, Transylvania, Vance, Watauga, Wilkes, Yancey

Partners Health Management

 Phone:  888-235-4673

Counties Served: Burke, Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Rutherford, Stanly, Surry, Union, Yadkin

Alliance Health

 Phone: 800-510-9132

Counties Served: Cumberland, Durham, Johnston, Harnett, Mecklenburg, Orange, Wake

Trillium Health Resources

 Phone: 877-685-2415

Counties Served:    Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Tyrrell, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wilson

[i] Individuals with a primary diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia are not eligible for this program

[ii] Legal guardian’s decisions about where the individual should live should reflect the individual’s preferences to the extent possible.  NCGS § 35A-1201(a)(5).