Assembly Resolution No. 218

BY: M. of A. Barrett

MEMORIALIZING Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to
proclaim March 26-31, 2017, as School Social Workers
Week in the State of New York

WHEREAS, School social workers serve as vital members of a school's
education team, playing a central role in creating partnerships between
the home, school, and community to ensure student academic success; and

WHEREAS, School social workers are especially skilled in providing
services to students who face serious challenges to school success,
including disability, poverty, discrimination, abuse, neglect, mental
illness, homelessness, bullying, familial stressors, and other barriers
to learning; and

WHEREAS, One in five school age children in America has a
diagnosable mental disorder and one in 10 has a mental health problem
severe enough to impair home, school, and/or community functioning; and

WHEREAS, Seventy-five to eighty percent of children and youth in
need of mental health services do not receive them, the discrepancy
being greater for minority children and children of poverty; and

WHEREAS, Those who wish to access community mental health services
often find them unavailable, inaccessible, or inadequate; and

WHEREAS, Nationally, about 50 percent of adolescents with mental
illness drop out of high school, the highest dropout rate of any
disability group; and

WHEREAS, School mental health programs are critical to early
identification of and early intervention for mental health problems; and

WHEREAS, School social workers, being licensed mental health
professionals in our schools, provide necessary assessment,
interventions, counseling, family outreach, and community referrals; and

WHEREAS, School social workers are part of the New York State Safe
Schools Task Force because their knowledge of school culture and school
climate are necessary for responsible school safety planning; and

WHEREAS, In 2015, the high school graduation rate in New York State
was seventy-eight percent, and approximately 13,840 high school students
dropped out; and

WHEREAS, Research indicates that school mental health programs
improve educational outcomes by decreasing absences, dropout rates and
discipline referrals, while improving academic achievement; and

WHEREAS, The celebration of School Social Workers Week highlights
the vital role school social workers play in the lives of students in
New York State; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim March 26-31, 2017, as
School Social Workers Week in the State of New York, and to honor and
recognize the contributions of school social workers to the success of
students in schools across the State, as well as encourage the people of
New York State to observe School Social Workers Week with appropriate
activities that promote awareness of the vital role of school social
workers, in schools and in the community helping students prepare for
their futures as productive, engaged citizens; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of
New York.