200+ Organizations and Individuals Call on NYC to Continue Funding the Mental Health Continuum
Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) joined more than 200 organizations and individuals in calling on Mayor Adams to invest $5 million to continue the Mental Health Continuum, an innovative, evidence-based model for supporting students with significant mental health needs by integrating a range of direct services and developing stronger partnerships between schools and hospital-based mental health clinics.
The Mental Health Continuum represents the first-ever cross-agency collaboration to help students with significant mental health challenges access direct mental health services in school and connect students to other services throughout the City. This model prioritizes wellness through school partnerships with hospital-based mental health clinics; NYC Well hotline expansion to advise school staff; child mobile response teams to respond to students in crisis; direct mental health services; School-Based Mental Health staff; Collaborative Problem Solving training, an evidence-based approach to building school staff capacity to better manage student behavior; and family engagement. The model is currently launching in 50 high-needs schools in the South Bronx and Central Brooklyn.
In FY 22, the City allocated $5 million for the Mental Health Continuum for only one year so, unless extended in the adopted budget, the funding for this critical initiative will expire in June 2022 — just when it is getting off the ground in schools that are relying on it.