Mayor Adams, NYC Health + Hospital President and CEO Dr. Katz, Public Schools Chancellor Aviles-Ramos Celebrate Opening of 16 New Mental Health Clinics in New York City Public Schools

March 18, 2025

Video available at: https://youtu.be/Z8NmgFaZga4

NYC Health + Hospitals-Staffed School-Based Clinics Serve More Than 6,000 New York City Public Schools Students Across Bronx and Central Brooklyn 

Builds on Adams Administration’s $5 Million Mental Health Continuum Partnership, Which Serves More Than 20,000 Students  

Part of Adams Administration’s “Mental Health Week,” Highlighting City’s Multi-Agency Efforts to Connect New Yorkers with Mental Health Services  

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams, NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Dr. Mitchell Katz, and New York City Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos today continued “Mental Health Week ” by celebrating the opening of the 16th school-based mental health clinic, fulfilling a promise Mayor Adams made last year to help bring mental health services to more than 6,000 students in New York City Public Schools across the Bronx and Central Brooklyn. The NYC Health + Hospitals-staffed clinics offer students access to individual, family, and group therapy, with connections to outpatient clinics and telehealth services as needed. Additionally, teachers and school staff have access to mental health clinic staff for consultation, trainings, and workshops to ensure students are appropriately supported and referred to care. Schools also receive support so they can respond to mental health crises without contacting 911 unnecessarily and avoid needless emergency room visits and hospitalizations. This week, the Adams administration is celebrating “Mental Health Week,” highlighting the city’s multi-agency efforts to support New Yorkers in addressing mental health, ranging from serious mental illness to expanding resources to underserved communities, and advancing Mayor Adams’ 2025 State of the City commitment to make New York City the best place to raise a family. 

“Every day, we hear from New Yorkers that mental health is a major issue, especially for our city’s youth, which is why our administration continues to gather the resources that our young people need. As we mark ‘Mental Health Week’ and highlight the city’s multi-agency efforts to support New Yorkers,’ we’re celebrating the opening of our 16th school-based mental health clinic, which will bring in-person services to more than 6,000 students at public schools in the South Bronx and Brooklyn,” said Mayor Adams. “These clinics offer individual, family, and group therapy on a face-to-face level, and will enable teachers to get training to ensure students are fully supported. These are places where our children know they have a support system they can rely on, whether they need a little bit of support, or a lot of care.”  

“We know that improving access to care means we must go beyond our hospital walls and offer innovative mental health programs in our schools and in the community to effectively meet the mental health needs of our young people,” said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Dr. Katz. “We are proud of opening all 16 satellite clinics, which provide our students with timely access to clinical mental health services, both inside of schools and at outpatient clinics. Our goal is to provide youth with mental health services where they need them the most, and today’s announcement celebrates our progress as we continue to increase access to care.” 

“I am so honored to join the Bronx community as we celebrate the opening of our 16th school-based mental health clinic, a crucial step in expanding access to vital support for our students. Through this longstanding partnership with DOHMH and NYC Health + Hospitals, we are ensuring every that student has the resources they need to succeed,” said Public Schools Chancellor Aviles-Ramos. “This clinic adds to our growing network of over 200 mental health clinics, primary care services, and partnerships with more than 130 community organizations, all backed by our dedicated team of guidance counselors and social workers. We are committed to fostering an environment where mental health is truly prioritized alongside academic achievement and as a core pillar of student safety and wellbeing.” 

The 16 new satellite clinics expand on the five existing mental health clinics that NYC Health + Hospitals already utilizes in the city’s public schools. The new school-based mental health clinics are funded with $3.6 million from the Adams administration’s Mental Health Continuum, a $5 million partnership between NYC Health + Hospitals, New York City Public Schools, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), and Advocates for Children announced as part of the Adams administration’s mental health agenda: “Care, Community, Action: A Mental Health Plan for New York City.” The clinics also received $700,000 in grants from the New York state Office of Mental Health through the Mental Health Outpatient Treatment and Rehabilitative Service Program. 

In addition to the 16 new school-based satellite clinics, an additional 34 schools have access to rapid referrals for evaluation and treatment directly into NYC Health + Hospitals’ outpatient mental health clinics. In total, this program serves over 20,000 students across 50 schools in the South Bronx and Central Brooklyn. 

New York City Public Schools prioritizes its mental health resources through a wide breadth of initiatives, hosting 215 school-based mental health clinics, with 20 more set to open this year, access to care through school-based primary care clinics, partnerships with more than 130 community-based organizations, and thousands of guidance counselors and social workers based in schools across the city. 

The 16 schools that now host mental health clinics were identified through an ongoing collaborative and data-driven effort to identify schools with the highest needs across the city, particularly schools without on-site mental health services or community partnerships with mental health clinics. This model aims to meet the needs of students with significant mental health needs in the schools and neighborhoods with the highest rates of school interventions, suspensions, and chronic absenteeism. 

NYC Health + Hospitals opened mental health satellite clinics in the following schools: 

• Mott Hall III
• Port Morris School of Community Leadership
• PS 035 Franz Siegel
• PS 063 – Author’s Academy
• PS 277X
• PS X140 The Eagle School
• South Bronx Preparatory

 Brooklyn 

• All City Leadership Secondary School
• Brighter Choice Community School
• The Brooklyn Green School
• Evergreen Middle School for Urban Exploration
• Kappa V: Knowledge and Power Preparatory Academy
• MS K394
• Parkside Preparatory Academy
• PS 041 Francis White
• PS/IS 384 Frances E Carter

The Adams administration has taken repeated actions to tackle the youth mental health crisis and has made it a key focus of his administration. New York City Public Schools has devoted significant resources to combatting students' addiction to social media and the many resulting harms, including by responding to cyberbullying occurring outside of class, providing counseling for anxiety and depression, and developing curricula about the effects of social media and how to stay safe online. 

In March 2023, the Adams administration launched “Care, Community, Action: A Mental Health Plan for New York City,” a mental health plan focused on improving the mental health of children and young people. Following the plan's release, the city convened more than 150 advocates, researchers, technologists, mental health providers, community-based organizations, and caregivers, in partnership with New York City youth, to lay out potential pathways for action to protect the mental health of children and youth. The convening provided the recommendations that built the foundation for the city’s Social Media Action Plan, announced in February 2023, that outlined New York City's commitment to protecting the mental health of young New Yorkers and empowered them to use these technologies in ways that are less harmful.  

In November 2023, Mayor Adams launched “NYC Teenspace,” a free tele-mental health service available to all New York City teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 years old at no cost. In the first six months after launching, 6,800 teenagers already signed up for the service with young people in underserved neighborhoods leading in utilizing the program and 80 percent of users identifying as Black, Hispanic, Asian American and Pacific Islander, bi-racial or Native American. The launch and early success of NYC Teenspace delivers on a key commitment from Care, Community, Action.  

Additionally, last year, Mayor Adams announced a lawsuit against companies that operate five social media platforms — TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube — for their roles in fueling a nationwide mental health crisis among young people, joining hundreds of school districts from across the country in filing litigation seeking to force tech giants to change their behavior and to recover the costs of addressing this public health threat. Mayor Adams also announced a Health Commissioner’s Advisory, identifying unfettered access to and use of social media as a public health hazard, just as past U.S. surgeons general have done with tobacco and firearms, and recommended parents delay initiation of social media for their child until at least age 14. 

Alongside the Adams administration’s focus on mental health, Mayor Adams also launched “HealthyNYC,” an ambitious plan to extend the average lifespan of all New Yorkers. HealthyNYC addresses the greatest drivers of premature death and sets bold targets to extend the average life expectancy of New Yorkers to 83 years by 2030, with gains across racial and ethnic groups. HealthyNYC aims to accomplish this by, among other initiatives, expanding access to culturally-responsive mental health care and social support services, including early intervention for communities of color and LGBTQIA+ youth, as well as addressing the impact of social media on youth mental health and suicidal ideation to reduce suicide deaths.