Res. No. 25
Title
Resolution calling upon the Department of Education to have a full time mental health counselor on staff at every elementary and middle school.
Body
By Council Members Cabrera, Brannan, Powers, Ayala and Levine
Whereas, New York City has approximately 1,800 schools; and
Whereas, New York City public schools educate 1.1 million children every year; and
Whereas, Children spend most of their day at school; and
Whereas, Eight percent of public high school students report attempting suicide, according to New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH); and
Whereas, According to DOHMH, that percentage doubles if a student has been bullied on school grounds, which eighteen percent of students report having experienced; and
Whereas, According to DOHMH, twenty-seven percent of New York City high school students report feeling sad or hopeless each month; and
Whereas, According to Journal of the American Medical Association of Psychiatry (JAMA), adolescents exposed to childhood adversity, including family malfunctioning, abuse, neglect, violence, and economic adversity, are nearly two times as likely to experience the onset of mental disorders; and
Whereas, According to JAMA, the likelihood of experiencing the onset of mental health disorders grows with additional exposures to childhood adversity; and
Whereas, According to Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health, approximately eighteen percent of children in New York State between the ages of zero and seventeen experienced two or more adverse family experiences in their lifetime; and
Whereas, According to the Children's Defense Fund's 2014 State of America's Children report, nearly forty percent of youth in the United States who needed mental health care between 2011-12 didn't receive the necessary treatment; and
Whereas, As part of ThriveNYC, New York City has hired nearly 100 School Mental Health Consultants...
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