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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Rohini Singh, Director of the School Justice Project at Advocates for Children of New York
7:13:46
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Rohini Singh from Advocates for Children of New York testified about the need for increased mental health support for students in NYC schools. She urged the city to prioritize investments in programs that support students' mental health needs.
- Called for extending and baselining funding for the mental health continuum at $5,000,000
- Requested additional funding of $3,750,000 to enhance services at school-based mental health clinics
- Emphasized the importance of continuity of care and providing critical additional services not covered by Medicaid
Rohini Singh
7:13:46
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
7:13:49
My name is Rohini Singh and I'm director of the School Justice Project at Advocates for Children of New York.
7:13:54
Each year AFC works with students who have significant mental health challenges and who have been unable to access mental health services they need to be successful in the classroom.
7:14:03
Many of our clients need additional mental health support, access to clinical mental health services, or school wide behavior supports.
7:14:09
And it is essential for our city to prioritize investments in programs and practices that support students.
7:14:16
To this end, we urge the city to include the following investments in the budget: extend and baseline funding for the mental health continuum at $5,000,000 and add funding to enhance services at school based mental health clinics at $3,750,000 Thank you to Chair Lee for highlighting both of these important investments at today's hearing.
7:14:35
The mental health continuum is a cross agency partnership between New York City Public Schools, New York City Health and Hospitals, and the DOHMH.
7:14:43
This innovative model is supported with $5,000,000 in one year city funding that was left out of the mayor's budget and is set to expire in June 2025.
7:14:53
The mental health continuum supports over 20,000 students at 50 schools in The Bronx and Brooklyn and for these services to continue, the funding must be continued in fiscal year twenty six and baseline to ensure continuity of care.
7:15:05
We urge the council to work with the administration to ensure that the budget includes in baselines $5,000,000 for the mental health continuum.
7:15:13
We are also asking the council to add funding to enhance services at school based mental health clinics.
7:15:18
School based mental health clinics provide on-site mental health services to children during the school day, but most funding for these clinics comes from Medicaid, which does not adequately cover the range of services and supports that students and school communities need.
7:15:32
Supplemental funding is needed to provide critical additional services.
7:15:35
The city must invest and baseline at least $3,750,000 to provide the additional resources that these school based mental health clinics need.
7:15:45
Thank you.