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Homepage News School social workers are an essential support for children's mental health: Read our Op-Ed
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School social workers are an essential support for children’s mental health: Read our Op-Ed

January 26, 2023 by Wesner Pierre CEO of Partnership with Children

In New York City, where Black and brown children lost primary caregivers to COVID-19 at about twice the national rate, we are seeing a continuing mental health crisis even as the rest of the country seems to have moved on.

I am the CEO of a nonprofit that provides in-school social workers for 30,000 K-12 students in 67 schools across New York City. I am also an adult whose life was changed in middle school by a licensed clinical social worker. I can attest to the profound benefits of compassionate, trusted mental health experts in public schools.

In her State of the State address, Gov. Kathy Hochul stepped up by pledging to make funding easier for social worker support in children’s schools. Hochul proposed increasing Medicaid payments for school-based satellite clinics and wraparound services, and she backed measures to add and expand school services quickly.

This is welcome news, because schools are a place where these services are sorely needed. The most recent Mental Health America report noted that “students of color disproportionately access their mental health care at school” and observed, “Increasing access to school-based mental health services can promote equity and reduce disparities.”

Here’s a lens through which New Yorkers can imagine this impact: When trauma is a relentless drumbeat in children’s lives, it can turn into the neurological condition known as toxic stress, which blunts their ability to learn, form friendships, or socialize in healthy ways. How can a young person be open to ideas or bear down on their studies when they are hungry? How can they “behave” in class when they are confused and angry about circumstances over which they have little control?

We know that an adult who can usher children through these experiences can be pivotal in their lives. In-school support lifts children who have no say in their circumstances – financial and housing insecurity, lack of medical or dental care, or families who are loving but are simply stretched too thin to get their children the expert mental health care they need.

And it works: A recent survey of our middle- and high school students found that 87 percent have relationships with adults who care about them, cultivating resilience. And 80 percent get the space and support to honestly share what they are feeling and thinking; that’s the basis of agency. Three-quarters of our students said that our work with them supports their academics, helping them stay in school.

Parents and teachers agree: 96 percent of parents said our counseling helps with their children’s social and emotional needs; and 91 percent of teachers said our work makes their classrooms easier to manage.

Unfortunately, in New York City we continue to face a confluence of factors in an uncertain economy: Decreased attendance has led to lower per-pupil funds, while more enrichment and supports are needed to help students address pandemic-related learning loss.

But there is hope in the governor’s proposal. She understands the gravity of what our children and their families are facing. We ask the Legislature to continue to work closely with Gov. Hochul on this critical issue. We cannot let children face the ills of mental health alone.

Read the full Op-Ed in the Times Union

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INDEX

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ARCHIVE

2023
  • Partnership with Children CEO speaks to News 12 State of Our Schools
  • Rockaway Collegiate Students Collect Food to Help Support the Community
  • School social workers are an essential support for children’s mental health: Read our Op-Ed
  • Our Holiday Wish: Deep, Necessary Investments in Children’s Mental Health
2022
  • FPWA 100th Year Anniversary!
  • Virtual Job Fair October 26, 2022
  • A Message From Our CEO, Wesner Pierre
  • Partnership with Children awarded the UHC Empowering Health grant!
  • Partnership with Children’s response to recent SCOTUS rulings
  • Partnership with Children’s Theater Programs Featured in City Limits News!
  • Read PWC’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Newsletter, April/May 2022
  • Partnership with Children Statement on the School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas
  • Partnership with Children’s CEO, Wesner Pierre, was featured on News 12!
  • Partnership with Children featured on PIX11 News
  • Read PWC’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Newsletter, February/March 2022
  • 2022 Inspiration Gala!
  • Partnership with Children Names Wesner Pierre as CEO
  • Join Partnership with Children and Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
2021
  • To Meet Children’s Mental Health Crisis, Support Our Social Workers: Read our op-ed
  • Partnership with Children Names Tom Booker, André Branch and Castleigh Johnson to its Board of Directors
  • Partnership with Children Names Angela Jefferson Chief Program Officer
  • Watch our Year In Reflection Town Hall and SEL Discussion: Social Emotional Learning with an Equity Lens
  • CAE’s Senior Program Director published in the New York Daily News
  • Partnership with Children featured on NBC News
  • Partnership with Children’s Inspiration Gala in NYN First Read
  • Meredith Sherman named Senior Program Director at The Center for Arts Education at Partnership with Children
  • Partnership with Children Welcomes Jessica Rawlins as Chief Development Officer
  • Our vision for re-opening schools: Read our op-ed
  • 2021 Inspiration Gala!
  • PWC Offers Crisis Counseling Support for New York City During COVID-19
  • Partnership with Children Welcomes Travis Rodgers as Chief Equity and Strategy Officer
2020
  • Watch our 2nd Virtual Town Hall: Advancing Equity for NYC Children during the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond
  • PWC Town Hall: Advancing Equity for NYC Children during the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond
  • Our Commitment
  • Watch our Virtual Town Hall- PWC on the Ground: COVID-19 and Children’s Mental Health
  • Partnership with Children will be a Recipient of the BET Relief Fund
  • PWC on the Ground: COVID-19 and Children’s Mental Health
  • COVID-19 Response: Meeting the New Needs of Students
  • Partnership with Children Joined by The Center for Arts Education to Broaden Social-Emotional Learning and Improve Schools
  • PWC CEO Joins City Officials at Press Conference Celebrating Community Schools
  • PWC CEO’s op-ed on the proven need for social workers in schools
  • PWC Chosen as a Holiday Feature on Bloomberg Businessweek
2019
  • PWC Featured in Enterprising Women
  • P.S. 67 Freedom School Summer Programming Featured on CBS New York
  • PWC Partnering with the Children’s Defense Fund on 3 Freedom Schools this Summer
  • PWC Welcomes Four New Board Members
2018
  • LaToya Williams-Belfort named one of The Network Journal’s “40 Under Forty”
  • Franklyn Pintado Recognized by NYN Media
  • PWC to partner with the Children’s Defense Fund and the Ford Foundation on 3 Freedom Schools this summer
  • Op-ed by PWC Executive Director highlights successful ‘Renewal’ school partnerships
  • Principal Kyesha Jackson shares her school’s successes in “PS 67: A Brooklyn School On The Rise”
2017
  • Maria Astudillo awarded NASW Image Award
  • Partnership with Children on Broadway!
  • PWC Staff Interviewed by Education Week About Community Schools
  • Coalition School for Social Change profiled in Chalkbeat
  • The Atlantic highlights our successful partnership with PS 67
  • Martin Van Buren H.S. Shows Academic Improvements
  • Jan 17: Omino Gardezi’s documentary, Lead the Parade, launches in honor of MLK Day.
2016
  • The Atlantic and Politico feature our work with homeless students
  • Positive school climates shown to narrow achievement gaps
  • National Leader on Restorative Justice Visits Our Program
  • Partnership with Children goes Back to School
  • Education Dive features our partnership with Riverdale Avenue Community School
  • Partnership with Children in The New York Times
  • CityLimits features one of our community schools, PS/IS 284
  • Slate features Partnership with Children and emerging science that informs our work in schools
  • “Ushering in a Process of Change: Introducing Restorative Practices at the Middle School Level”, Brooklyn Community Foundation
  • New talent featured in New York Business Journal
2015
  • New York Knicks star takes our students on a shopping spree for the holidays
  • “Help With School and Life in East Harlem”, The Wall Street Journal
  • “At a school in Brooklyn’s poorest neighborhood, literacy is up and disciplinary problems are down”, The Hechinger Report
  • “Crown Heights Middle School Getting Special Staffer to Lower Suspensions”, DNA Info
  • Press Release: Brooklyn Community Foundation Funds Restorative Justice Programs in 4 Brooklyn Schools to Reduce Suspensions and Arrests
  • “CEO Corner: Margaret Crotty, Partnership with Children”, New York Nonprofit Media
  • “As city acts on their cause, community school advocates carve out a new role”, Chalkbeat
  • “Chocolateship with Children” for Partnership with Children!
  • Partnership with Children’s Summer Quest Featured on NY1
  • Partnership with Children Raises $1.16 Million at Annual Spring Gala
  • Partnership with Children Staff is New Yorker of the Week!
  • TD Five Boro Bike Tour
  • “Partnership with Children Elects Four to Board”
2014
  • Partnership with Children to run 3 programs under Community School Intiative
  • “Rockaway communities still feeling emotional toll of Sandy”, Queens Ledger
  • Partnership with Children Awarded $6.5 Million for the Social Services Block Grant
  • “How to Get Kids to Class”, New York Times
  • “In its third year, an expanded Summer Quest looks to prove its academic effects”, Chalkbeat
  • Partnership with Children Raises $800,000 at Spring Gala!
  • Red Cross Awards Grant to Provide Emotional and Mental Health Supports in Schools
  • Partnership with Children Elects Two New Board Members
2013
  • New York Times article focuses on a Partnership with Children student
  • Our Advice for NYC’s Decision Makers
  • Closing the Achievement Gap During the Summer
  • Partnership with Children Conducting Year 2 of NYC Summer Quest
  • Camp Robin Hood visits Partnership with Children at P.S. 3
  • Park Avenue Garage Sale benefiting Partnership with Children
  • Partnership with Children participates in Skype’s Read Aloud Program
  • Robin Hood Receives the Anne Vanderbilt Award for Achievement
  • Partnership with Children Gala Raises $750,000
  • Partnership with Children 2013 Gala Kick-off
2012
  • Celebrating The Staten Island Foundation
  • Sharing Our Response to FEMA “Project Hope”
  • Students Invited to New York Theatre Ballet’s “The Nutcracker”
  • A Taste of the Good Life 2012
  • Partnership with Children chosen for FEMA “Project Hope”
  • Hurricane Sandy Update
  • October is Bullying Prevention Month
  • Partnership with Children featured on WNET!
  • Associate Executive Director Barbara Cavallo cited in School Board News Today
  • Partnership with Children Selected as Part of NYC Summer Quest
  • Margaret Crotty named new Executive Director
  • Councilman Jackson takes MS 296 Students on Tour of City Hall
  • Spring Gala Success!
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info@partnershipwithchildren.org

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Friday, 17, Mar
Partnership with Children CEO speaks to News 12 State of Our Schools
Thursday, 9, Feb
Rockaway Collegiate Students Collect Food to Help Support the Community
Thursday, 9, Feb
School social workers are an essential support for children’s mental health: Read our Op-Ed
Thursday, 9, Feb
Our Holiday Wish: Deep, Necessary Investments in Children’s Mental Health
Friday, 28, Oct
FPWA 100th Year Anniversary!
Friday, 14, Oct
Virtual Job Fair October 26, 2022

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