“When children don’t get the services they need upstream, their needs become more intense and complex, and they end up in ERs and hospitals.”
Alice Bufkin, associate executive director for policy and advocacy at the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York
Local organizations serving children and families praised the City Council this week for including $550 million in its proposed budget for an array of school services that stand to be eliminated or reduced as funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act expires. The Council’s proposal includes $67 million for the 450 school social workers whose positions are on the chopping block, along with $10 million to retain psychologists and other support staff.
But the outlook is uncertain, as Adams left that funding out of his own preliminary budget plan in January amid efforts to scale back city spending. The mayor is due to release a revised spending proposal this month, and negotiations with councilmembers will continue until the final budget is due out in July.
The city education department stands to lose about $1 billion overall in federal funding in September. Beyond social workers and psychologists, the federal relief supports special education services for preschoolers, nurses in 137 schools that previously lacked one, and 75 of the 100 shelter coordinators who help students experiencing homelessness. The other 25 posts funded with city dollars would also be eliminated.
Asked what will happen to the services if their funding is not replaced, Department of Education spokesperson Jenna Lyle said in a statement that the city will “review these programs as we go through the budget process.”
Service providers voice concern
Social services organizations have been sounding the alarm about the potential loss of these services for months. More than 150 local organizations serving children and families signed a letter in September calling on elected officials to secure sustainable funding for services supported by the expiring federal stimulus dollars.
Even the current level of mental health services in city schools falls short of demand, according to Randi Levine, policy director for Advocates for Children, a nonprofit that helps families access services students need at school.
There were nearly 1,951 school social workers in the 2022-2023 school year, or about one for every 465 students enrolled in the school system (not counting charter schools), education department figures show. The School Social Work Association of America recommends a ratio of one social worker for every 250 students.
School-based social workers can talk to students directly about how they’re doing and make referrals to other services as needed. They’re also responsible for flagging serious issues, such as suicidal ideation.
The potential cuts to school mental health services come as Adams has sounded the alarm about declining youth mental health.
In 2021, nearly 16% of city high school students said they seriously considered suicide in the previous year, and another 38% reported persistently feeling sad or hopeless, according to the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In recent years, city schools have also had an influx of new students who have arrived from other countries and may require extra services to deal with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, the latest report from the Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health found. The report said accessing behavioral health care in the community can present a challenge due to a shortage of providers who accept insurance.
Balanced-budget worries
Adams has partly tried to fill gaps in mental health access by partnering with the company Talkspace to provide teens with free telehealth therapy. He also recently sued social media companies, including TikTok and Meta, for allegedly fueling the crisis.
City Hall spokesperson Amaris Cockfield did not directly respond to questions about the expiration of federal COVID-19 funding and the fate of the school services it supports. But she defended the mayor’s proposed budget, which includes additional cuts Adams has said are necessary to offset the cost of helping newly arrived migrants.
“We made the right decisions without interrupting New Yorkers’ access to the critical services they need and deserve,” Cockfield said. “At the same time, we still need additional support from our state and federal partners to help the city deal with the reality of billions of dollars in asylum-seeker costs.”
City Councilmember Linda Lee, who chairs the Council’s Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities and Addiction, said now is not the time to reduce youth mental health funding. “What COVID did was really uncover all the issues and silos within the mental health sector and all the years of disinvestment,” she said.
But the city is still working toward a balanced budget. When the Council released its preliminary budget response this week, it identified more than $3 billion in additional tax revenue for the current and upcoming fiscal years. The Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit think tank, has cautioned the Council’s estimates could be overly optimistic.
