In the latest attempt to address a worsening youth mental health crisis, the New York City Council on Thursday passed a series of bills that would boost support for students in local public schools.
The legislative package — composed of four separate but interconnected laws — aims to create more “safe, structured” spaces where young people can get the help they need, said Councilwoman Rita Joseph (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the education committee.
“Our kids are carrying more than we can see,” Joseph told reporters before the stated Council meeting. “Yet, many of them feel like they have nowhere to turn.”
After the COVID pandemic, 38% of local high school students reported feeling so sad or hopeless in 2021 that they gave up their usual activities, according to city data.
Joseph’s bill creates a two-year pilot program to connect mental health providers who are in training and middle and high schools. Through the program, graduate students pursuing a license in social work and other soon-to-be professionals would get involved in student clubs and help facilitate discussions and workshops.
Another bill, sponsored by Councilwoman Linda Lee (D-Queens), who chairs the mental health committee, would help middle and high school students start such peer-led clubs.
Other legislation would offer mental health literacy training in schools and improve communication between agencies beyond the education system, so that city workers could offer mental health services to those impacted by traumatic incidents.
“This is allowing them to have that space and giving them the tools they need to lead these conversations themselves,” Lee said of her bill.