Nonprofi ts question mental health expansion in schools
hired social workers from existing
nonprofi t clinics in DOE
“There aren’t 500 unemployed
social workers waiting
for these jobs,” Chait said.
Currently, nonprofi t organizations
run 243 school-based
mental health clinics that
serve children and families.
The Coalition recommends
expanding these clinics to
schools across the city, which
could be done at little cost to
the city because these clinics
are licensed by the state and
can bill Medicaid. Through
these clinics, psychiatrists
and other practitioners can
provide a high level of care to
address the wide range of mental
health needs of students.
“Bringing more social
workers into schools doesn’t
solve certain problems,” Karlin
said. “The question is
where do the social workers
come from?”
According to Karlin, instead
of looking at what each
school needs, the DOE is trying
to do patchwork and fi x everything
at once. For example,
certain schools need multiple
social workers who can help
kids deal with trauma, Karlin
and Chait said. Since the nonprofi
Early Action is Key!
BY JASON COHEN
Following more than 4,000
NYC kids losing a parent to
COVID-19 since its outset in
2020, the city Department of
Education (DOE ) hired 500 social
workers this fall.
Therefore, every city public
school now has at least
one full-time social worker or
school-based mental health
clinic in addition to other preexisting
supports like community
school programs and
resources across the city,
such as NYC Health + Hospitals
and ThriveNYC. In total,
more than 6,000 social workers,
guidance counselors and
school psychologists will provide
support to schools this
fall, in addition to community
based resources.
However, with a nationwide
social worker shortage,
Todd Karlin, chief program offi
cer at Astor Services for Children
and Families, and Nadia
Chait, director of policy and
advocacy at The Coalition for
Behavioral Health, were surprised
to learn that the DOE
was able to fi nd 500 new ones.
While the city claims all of the
social workers are brand new,
both Karlin and Chait told
the Bronx Times that the city
schools.
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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 20 OV. 19-25, 2021 BTR
ts could have created clinics
in more schools that would
have been reimbursed, Karlin
isn’t sure why the city chose
the more expensive route.
Karlin said on paper hiring
500 new social workers
sounded great, but in reality,
simply wasn’t practical because
they don’t exist.
“They’re taking away from
some of the highest needs
schools to support others,”
he said. “No one talked to the
schools beforehand to see what
their needs are. We know there
are many schools now with vacancies.”
Chait echoed Karlin’s sentiments
and said that children
already dealt with numerous
issues before the pandemic
and now will need mental
health services even more. But
certain schools may require
more assistance than others
and the DOE plan does not address
that.
“There’s no perfect solution,”
she said. “We would love
to work with the city on increasing
the pipeline (of social
workers to schools).”
In fact, Astor Services sent
out a survey to nonprofi ts regarding
social workers who
left school clinics and discovered
that many went to work
for the DOE.
Of the 100 nonprofi ts that
responded to the survey, at
least half of their employees
who left went to work for the
DOE as part of the mayor’s
initiative, said Yvette Bairan,
chief executive offi cer of Asor
Services for Children and
Families.
“For Astor, that number is
at least 70%,” Bairan said.
However, according to DOE
Spokesman Nathan Styer, the
DOE recruited a pool of more
than 1,000 applicants and
worked with local colleges
and universities to fi nd candidates.
“This year we made a historic
investment in the longterm
mental health support of
our young people,” Styer said.
“By hiring 500 caring adults
for schools that previously did
not have a school-based social
worker, we are taking the important,
and necessary steps
to ensure our children are returning
to safe, welcoming
schools this fall.”
At the behest of Mayor Bill de Blasio, the city DOE hired 500 new social
workers this fall. Photo courtesy NYC Mayor’s Offi ce
/map