Chalkbeat NY | Mayor Eric Adams visited P.S. 35 in the Bronx this week to tout the school’s new on-site mental health clinic — one of 16 schools that added them over the past year through a multi-agency program.

The mental health clinics are “a place to learn coping skills and resilience without financial burden,” Adams said, flanked by top health and education officials. The clinics received funding through a broader program called the Mental Health Continuum, which provides mental health support at 50 schools in the South Bronx and Brooklyn, including the 16 school-based clinics. Overall, the program serves 20,000 students, the mayor said.

But a key detail went unmentioned during the press conference and the media reports about it: Adams’ preliminary budget does not include funding for the Mental Health Continuum next school year.

Local lawmakers have pushed since the program launched four years ago to make it a permanent part of the city’s $112 billion budget, known as “baselining.” Those efforts have come up short, even as the $5 million program is included in the mayor’s own mental health blueprint.

“Clearly this administration wants to prioritize the mental health of students,” said Rohini Singh, director of the school justice project at Advocates for Children, an organization that played a role in pushing for the Mental Health Continuum. “I don’t know what the calculation is and why it hasn’t been baselined at this point given that it is currently up and running and serving students.”