School-Based Mental Health Clinics Struggle to Meet Rising Demand

Young people in New York are already grappling with mental health challenges, and recent political upheaval and economic uncertainty have intensified the need for support, service providers say. BCW Member Andrus, a nonprofit that provides mental health services across eight school districts in Westchester, has seen demand surge, adding about 25 cases each week.    

Yet even as issues such as anxiety, depression, isolation and substance use persist, recent developments such as the immigration crackdown and other federal policy shifts have left some students and families increasingly hesitant to seek help. “It’s like we’re going a little backward around stigma,” said Danni Lapin Zou, senior director of community-based mental health services at Andrus. “I’m concerned that has something to do with the rhetoric around what’s happening politically and what they’re hearing about blaming and shaming mental health.”

Amid the rising demands for care, a growing number of school-based mental health clinics are operating through partnerships between schools and outside providers. Schools provide space and refer students for counseling while clinicians deliver services on-site.

Andrus opened its first clinic at Enrico Fermi School in Yonkers in 2009 and has since expanded to 33 locations across Westchester, including Yonkers, Peekskill, Hastings-on-Hudson, White Plains, Ossining and Lakeland. The goal is to meet students where they are, breaking down barriers such as stigma, transportation and scheduling challenges.

There are 1,520 school-based mental health clinics in New York. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s recent $1 billion mental health initiative has nearly doubled the number of clinics in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties to 123.  

School-based clinics allow students to receive therapy without leaving the building. Parents don’t have to miss work to take children to appointments and can be involved in their children’s treatment or even participate in therapy themselves. And because clinicians are in school every day, they can observe a student’s behaviors directly or offer staff training.

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