New York City will provide social, emotional, and academic behavioral screening for K-12 public school students in the communities most affected by Covid-19, city officials said Monday.
The initiative will start in 27 communities that have been identified as the highest rates of cases and deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. The city will also hire an additional 150 social workers and add a community school in each of the 27 neighborhoods. This first phase will serve about 380,000 students from about 830 schools, said a statement from Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office.
Chirlane McCray, de Blasio’s wife, led the initiative, calling the additional screenings an “extended health check for students.”
“Every New York student will have the experience of last year in a different way,” McCray said, adding that no notes or labels will be used in the screenings. The goal will be to help adults provide the best mental health support to students who need it, “McCray said.
New York School Chancellor Richard Carranza said the initiative would allow officials to assess students’ overall well-being and create personalized care for them, with the consent of their tutors.
The effort will also involve expanding the school system’s partnership with the city’s healthcare providers to provide direct mental health resources to students, Carranza said.