Mayor Bill de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray, and Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza today announced a mental health plan to support students this fall, as part of the 2021 Student Achievement Plan. The first phase will focus on the 27 communities hardest hit by COVID-19, with plans to make these critical mental health supports available to students citywide.
“The trauma of the pandemic has been acutely felt by our youngest New Yorkers,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “In New York City, we believe that mental healthcare is a human right, and our students will not navigate this pain and grief alone. Now with our school communities, we will give our kids the emotional support they need to succeed in a safe and supportive environment.”
"Now, more than ever, it’s important that we are able to pinpoint and address student strengths, weaknesses and areas of concern. The pandemic has tested everyone’s ability to work through some pretty tough challenges, and when children head back to school, each with their own mix of emotions, they will need more support than ever,” said First Lady Chirlane McCray. "This new screening will provide educators and staff with a more accurate indicator of how our children are doing when they re-enter the classroom. Learning and growing, continuous improvement is important for students and educators. There is no better investment to pair with our SEL and restorative justice curriculum."
“Students are only able to succeed academically when their social and emotional needs are being met, and we are only now starting to understand how this crisis is impacting our young people,” said Schools Chancellor Richard. A Carranza. “Building on what we know works as we look ahead, we know we’ll use these tools and resources to provide our school communities with the ability to confront and address trauma while fostering a safe, supportive environment for all students.”
Building on years of investments in the social emotional wellbeing of students, and expanding on the recently announced 2021 Student Achievement Plan, the mental health plan is a three-pronged approach to confront the trauma and mental health crisis faced by our students. Beginning in the 27 communities hardest hit by COVID-19, the DOE will make social, emotional, and academic behavior screeners available for all students K-12, hire 150 additional social workers, and add a community school in each of the 27 neighborhoods. This first phase will serve approximately 380,000 students across approximately 830 schools. This plan includes partnerships with community-based organizations and builds on the administration’s significant investments in the social and emotional wellbeing of young people, including through our Resilient Kids, Safer Schools initiative that expanded social-emotional learning and restorative justice approaches citywide; and our Bridge to School plan which provided educators with additional supports and trainings in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A social emotional screening is an evidence-based tool that facilitates a check-in on how students are doing emotionally and assesses a general sense of wellbeing, based on the observations made by the adults in school that know them best. The results of the screen will be analyzed by a school-based team to guide school-wide programming, elevate and address needs of specific students who might need additional care, and coordinate between parents, counselors, social workers, and clinicians to provide interventions that meet the unique, personalized needs of that particular student.
Currently, every school has access to a social worker or guidance counselor, and we will continue to add to this pool so that more schools can have more full-time, dedicated support. DOE will hire an additional 150 social workers to serve schools in the communities hardest hit by COVID, prioritizing the schools in these communities currently without a fulltime social worker. Social workers will work in partnership with educators and Health + Hospitals clinicians, through the previously announced Pathways to Care initiative, to target resources, clinical supports, and interventions to students based on their unique needs.
To further expand services that support the whole child, this plan will transform 27 schools in these communities to become Community Schools. Community Schools are a cornerstone of this administration’s approach to rethinking the place a school has in its community, by connecting schools to community partners who provide wraparound services to address the specific needs of that school’s community. A recent RAND Corporation impact study of New York City’s Community Schools program found that they have many positive impacts, including increasing graduation rates, decreasing chronic absenteeism and disciplinary incidents, while improving student achievement.
The second phase of this initiative will move to make these mental health and wellbeing supports universal. Our children need these supports, and we need the federal government to step up and provide school districts with appropriate resources to meet unprecedented mental health needs laid bare by the pandemic. With additional and significant federal stimulus aid, the City can expand this work to provide all students with social, emotional, and academic behavior screenings, hiring a total of 500 social workers, and growing a total 100 Community Schools. With federal support, every New York City school would have access to a mental health clinic, CBO-provided mental health services, or a social worker.
The strategies announced today are part of an ongoing, citywide effort to meet the mental health needs of children and young people in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In August, the Mayor, First Lady and Chancellor announced the Bridge to School program to help schools integrate trauma-informed practices into school reopening, following an historic investment to address the social-emotional needs of students. In addition, ThriveNYC and DOE collaborate on several innovative mental health programs that serve children and families, which offer a combination of in-person and tele-mental health support during the pandemic.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
While the mayor talks about 27 communities hardest hit by COVID-19 there is never any mention as to which communities are the 27 communities that go unnamed.
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