School-based mental health services serve as
integral support for New York City students
BY ISABEL SONG BEER
The New York Foundling,
a community-based organization
that focuses on child
welfare, development and
education, is emphasizing the
importance of their schoolbased
student mental healthcare
services.
While cases of the Omicron
COVID-19 variant are
trending downwards, Reïna
Batrony, vice president of The
New York Foundling’s services
for community and schoolbased
programs stressed how
continuing to support students
and young people will
only serve to further empower
communities.
“The New York Foundling
has been operating for over
152 years now and our focus
in terms of delivery of service
has been on five major areas,”
said Batrony to amNew York
in an interview. “We have
educational services, child
welfare, juvenile justice, behavioral
health and developmental
disability. Our belief
is that every individual can
reach their full potential and
we believe in the ability and
the power of what each individual
brings to the context of
their community.”
THe New York Foundling
provides a plethora of services,
but Batrony highlighted
just how important access
to mental health care is for
students and young children
– especially with the ongoing
pandemic. According to a report
by the American Psychological
Association, young
children especially are suffering.
Before the pandemic
about one in five children
were reported to be suffering
from mental health disorders,
whereas now about one-third
of students are struggling.
The Foundling aims to
change that with their implementation
of on campus or in
school mental health counselors
available for students and
TIMESLEDGER | Q 28 NS.COM | FEB. 18 - FEB. 24, 2022
their families at any time, as
well as virtual support.
“As we know with the
pandemic a lot of people had
to quickly adapt and adjust,
so mental health services are
one of the top priorities, and
we provide that in different
opportunities,” Batrony said.
“Whether it is preventative
services at some of our schoolbased
mental health services
or some of our specialized
evidence based models, all
mainly provided within the
community and with the families
and with the pandemic
we have had to shift pretty
quickly and because of our
technology and innovative
approach, we were already
ready and had the capacity to
support with telehealth.”
While these services are
available to all students
throughout all five boroughs,
it can sometimes be difficult
– especially for younger students
– to reach out and advocate
for their own mental
health. The New York Foundling
can provide assistance,
but it is also up to school
leaders to ensure the mental
health and safety of their students
is a priority as well.
“I know that with students
who are younger, they have to
ask for help and it’s the culture
within the schools – so
the ability to trust their guidance
counselors and their
principals and have that fluidity
of communication,” said
Batrony. “I think asking from
home also can sometimes be
challenging depending on
potential cultural barriers,
but really tapping into
those different relationships
that they may have in school
whether with a teacher or
guidance counselor or even
a friend who may be receiving
some services can help
with the stigma of asking for
help.”
Currently, The New York
Foundling offers schoolbased
mental health services
with its partner schools –
which include some on-site
mental health clinics at some
campuses – and focuses on
identifying and addressing
the needs of high and moderate
risk mental health issues
in schools. The Foundling
employs trained mental
healthcare practitioners to
have ongoing reviews and
check-ins with students who
exhibit signs of mental health
struggles and work with
the individual student and
their family in order to get
them back on track and back
learning.
“Because we provide such
a wide range of services – and
all of our services are holistically
fit to help support individuals
and families in the
community – we continue to
see the same demand for all
of our services,” said Batrony.
“We pride ourselves in
the ability of just being responsive
to the needs of the
community.”
HEALTH
/NS.COM
