To mark the city’s “Mental Health Week,” Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that all 16 school-based mental health clinics he announced last April are now open in Central Brooklyn and the South Bronx.
The South Bronx satellite clinics are located at Mott Hall III; Port Morris School of Community Leadership; P.S. 63 Author’s Academy; P.S. 277X; P.S. X140 The Eagle School; South Bronx Preparatory; and P.S. 35 Franz Siegel, which was the final clinic to open on March 18.
The satellite clinics are staffed by NYC Health + Hospitals and offer individual, family and group therapy, as well as referrals to outpatient clinics and telehealth services. Clinic staff can also train and educate school employees with the goal of reducing 911 calls and unnecessary student hospitalizations.
The 16 clinics serve about 6,000 students in the South Bronx and Central Brooklyn and were placed in neighborhoods with high levels of absenteeism and suspensions. Combined with another 34 schools that have a “rapid referral” system to H + H outpatient clinics, about 20,000 total students in those neighborhoods now have faster, easier access to treatment, the mayor said.
“These clinics offer individual, family, and group therapy on a face-to-face level and will enable teachers to get training to ensure students are fully supported,” Adams said in the announcement. “These are places where our children know they have a support system they can rely on, whether they need a little bit of support, or a lot of care.”
The clinics were funded with $3.6 million from the administration’s Mental Health Continuum, a partnership between NYC Health + Hospitals, New York City Public Schools and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). The clinics also received state grants totaling $700,000.
These sites open at a time when many children, even those who are very young, struggle with emotional and behavioral challenges.
The city’s first-ever State of Mental Health report, issued in May 2024, found that in both 2019 and 2021, 15% of children age 3 to 13 had a mental health diagnosis, with anxiety being the most common. Latino, Black and white children were more likely to have mental health diagnoses compared with Asian and Pacific Islanders.
In addition, 48% of surveyed teens experienced symptoms of depression ranging from mild (27%) to severe (11%).
The new satellite locations will help reach more young people where they are, said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Dr. Mitchell Katz.
“We know that improving access to care means we must go beyond our hospital walls and offer innovative mental health programs in our schools and in the community to effectively meet the mental health needs of our young people,” he said.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
