NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Mayor Eric Adams announced plans to set up 16 school-based satellite mental health clinics over the next six months, coinciding with a joint council committee hearing on the shortage of such clinics in schools.
The clinics aim to serve over 6,000 students across the Bronx and Central Brooklyn in the New York City public schools.
“The stress, isolation, and anxiety of the COVID-19 pandemic pushed mental health to the forefront of the conversation for so many of us,” Adams said. “By investing in student mental health and delivering services right where young people need them most — in our public schools — we are building upstream solutions that will help us build a healthier city.”
According to Adams, the clinics will offer students access to individual, family, and group therapy, with connections to outpatient clinics and telehealth services as needed.
Teachers and school staff will also have access to mental health clinic staff for consultation and training.
The 16 new satellite clinics, funded with $3.6 million from the Mental Health Continuum, a $5 million partnership between NYC Health + Hospitals, DOE, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), and Advocates for Children.
The clinics also received a total of $700,000 in grants from the New York state Office of Mental Health.
The announcement comes as four committees held a joint hearing on Wednesday to discuss the mental and physical health of New York's approximately one million school children. The Committees on Education; Mental Health, Disabilities and Addiction; Health; and Hospitals questioned the Adams administration about school-based health centers and mental health clinics as funding cuts for 60 school psychologists and nearly a quarter of the 2,000 social workers in public schools were planned.
Adams also announced that an additional 34 schools will have access to rapid referrals for evaluation and treatment directly into NYC Health + Hospitals outpatient mental health clinics.
The full list of schools NYC Health + Hospitals will open mental health satellite clinics in:
The Bronx
Mott Hall III
S. X140 The Eagle School
Port Morris School of Community Leadership
PS 035 Franz Siegel
PS 063 – Author’s Academy
PS 277X
South Bronx Preparatory
Brooklyn
All City Leadership Secondary School
Brighter Choice Community School
Evergreen Middle School for Urban Exploration
Kappa V: Knowledge and Power Preparatory Academy
MS K394
Parkside Preparatory Academy
PS 041 Francis White
PS/IS 384 Frances E Carter
The Brooklyn Green School
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