When Tracy Lee worked as a probation\/parole officer in Mecklenburg County, he found himself supervising people with serious mental illness \u2014 and feeling ill-equipped to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea what I was dealing with,\u201d Lee, now chief deputy secretary of the N.C. Department of Adult Correction\u2019s Division of Community Supervision<\/a>, told NC Health News. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what I was looking at. I didn\u2019t know how to respond to their behavior.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat has always stayed with me.\u201d<\/p>\n His experience \u2014 and that of many other probation\/parole officers \u2014 led him to champion expanding the state corrections department\u2019s Specialty Mental Health Supervision program<\/a>. The initiative provides enhanced training to officers who focus on working with people who have behavioral health issues. Specialty mental health probation\/parole officers carry smaller caseloads \u2014 up to 40 people with serious mental illness instead of the upwards of 60 cases usually managed by an officer \u2014 so they can provide more intensive case management and develop expertise in handling complex cases.<\/p>\n In April, the program reached a major milestone: designating and training at least one specialty mental health probation\/parole officer and a chief probation\/parole officer in all 100 North Carolina counties.<\/p>\n Probation\/parole officers supervise more people with mental illness than any other segment of the criminal legal system. Nationally, an estimated 16 percent to 27 percent<\/a> of people on probation have a mental health condition. The most recent North Carolina research<\/a> \u2014 published in 2018 \u2014 estimated that 15 percent to 19 percent of the state\u2019s probation population has a mental illness.<\/p>\n About 255 specialty mental health officers supervise roughly 1,800 people statewide. It\u2019s a fraction of the roughly 2,000 probation\/parole officers who supervise more than 74,000 people on probation, parole or post-release supervision<\/a> across North Carolina.<\/p>\n Supervision types:<\/strong><\/p>\n Lee said that the statewide expansion helps the department more intentionally serve people with serious mental illness<\/a>, who generally fare less well in the community. Research shows that justice-involved people with mental illnesses are at a higher risk of probation violations<\/a>, having their probation revoked and being rearrested than people without mental illness.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to criminalize mental health,\u201d Lee said. \u201cOver the years we\u2019ve done that because we just didn\u2019t know any better. We didn\u2019t know what we were looking at or how to understand it, and so we thought that the best avenue for this would be to continue to specialize the caseloads.\u201d<\/p>\n A specialized approach<\/strong><\/p>\n North Carolina\u2019s Specialty Mental Health Supervision began as a pilot in Wake and Sampson counties in 2013<\/a>. It was created in recognition that it is often harder for people with serious mental illness under community supervision to find housing, employment and behavioral health services. Those barriers can make it harder to stay stable and successful in the community. That can lead to re-incarceration, at a high cost to taxpayers; it takes about $54,000 per person per year to house someone in state prison<\/a>.<\/p>\n For officers who do not recognize the symptoms and behaviors associated with mental illness, these cases can be more difficult to supervise. Program leaders believed that officers with specialized training and stronger connections to treatment providers could do a better job.<\/p>\n Results from the pilot showed that officers with specialized training made more mental health referrals, and the people they supervised were more engaged in treatment than those on the standard probation caseload.<\/p>\n Program expansion was slow; it spread to only 24 counties by May 2023. Growth has accelerated since then, and the department hired four licensed mental health professionals to train officers and provide ongoing support as they navigate complex cases.<\/p>\n Ashlyne Carman is one such mental health probation\/parole officer working in Wake County. She has carried a mental health caseload for about three years, primarily supervising people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other psychotic disorders.\u00a0<\/p>\n Smaller caseloads mean specialty mental health officers can spend more time helping people access care, including scheduling appointments, transporting people to appointments, picking up medications and consulting with doctors, if the officers are granted consent. They also regularly consult with licensed mental health professionals who offer guidance on challenging cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n Carman said the program\u2019s smaller caseloads and increased support allow her to \u201cpour more\u201d into higher need individuals.\u00a0<\/p>\n She said she\u2019s seen meaningful results. For example, one young man with bipolar disorder whom Carman currently supervises has made what she described as a \u201ccomplete 180\u201d since joining her caseload in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I got him, he was very like, \u2018I don\u2019t need medication. Nothing is wrong with my brain. It\u2019s chemicals. Other people are what\u2019s wrong.\u2019 He was just very, very resistant to help,\u201d Carman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the course of many months \u2014 including a period in jail after a new charge \u2014 Carman connected him to a mental health provider, even driving him to some appointments.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe realized his officer was someone who was willing to drive half an hour to go get him from his house to turn around and drive another half hour to get him to an appointment because he didn\u2019t have a ride,\u201d Carman said. \u201cHe started to value what I had to say. If I recommended something with mental health, I think he was seeing that I wasn\u2019t doing it from a malicious or like, \u2018oh, I think something\u2019s wrong with you\u2019 standpoint, but from a \u2018you just need a little help\u2019 type of way.\u201d<\/p>\n Carman said he now takes medication, attends therapy and practices self-reflection and de-escalation strategies during meetings with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe has a son now, and he talks about wanting to get off supervision,\u201d Carman said. \u201cHe wants to go to work. He has a life plan.\u201d<\/p>\n Carman attributed his progress \u2014 and that of other people she works with \u2014 to the speciality mental health approach, which emphasizes connecting people to treatment while helping officers distinguish between behavior driven by mental illness, versus willful noncompliance in need of punishment.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/54957681595_13a9eecf00_k.jpg\")
Tracy Lee, chief deputy secretary of the N.C. Department of Adult Correction\u2019s Division of Community Supervision, speaks at a probation\/parole officer graduation in November 2025. He oversees roughly 2,000 probation\/parole officers working across the state.<\/p>\n\n
![\"Dozens](\"https:\/\/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AL_Annual-Training_11.2024-scaled.jpg\")
Specialty Mental Health Supervision probation\/parole officers gathered for annual training in November 2024. They receive ongoing training and support from licensed mental health professionals while handling mental health caseloads.<\/p>\n