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Syracuse City Schools to open mental health clinics

SUNY Chancellor John King is joined with mental health representatives from Syracuse City Schools and Upstate Medical University at Grant Middle School.
John Smith / WAER news
SUNY Chancellor John King is joined with mental health representatives from Syracuse City Schools and Upstate Medical University at Grant Middle School.

Syracuse children attending two schools will soon have access to a wide-range of mental health services through a new partnership with Upstate Medical University. It’s an effort to help struggling students stuck on a waiting list.

The five-year program is funded by a $5.5 million federal grant. SUNY Upstate President Dr. Mantosh Dewan said students can access university-level clinicians for immediate help.

“School-based clinicians will not be alone," Dewan said. "They will be part of and have direct access to a comprehensive range of services. Consults intensive outpatient programs, inpatient programs, child psychiatrists, autism specialists, all automatic, all seamless. Not by referral."

The program also creates a pipeline for training diverse, credentialed mental health professionals that speak multiple languages. Associate Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Upstate Sipho Mbuqe says students can better relate to someone just like them.

“We will go nationally to recruit professionals and trainees and people that we know are from different backgrounds and they actually want to work with this population. They just want opportunities," Mbuqe said. "People who are multilingual [and] others, those are the people we will be targeting.”

The Grant Middle School Gator mascot rug in the school's library.
John Smith / WAER News
The Grant Middle School Gator mascot rug in the school's library.

Syracuse children face numerous challenges that can weigh on their mental health when they walk into school, from high rates of poverty to parents struggling with addiction. District Director of Mental Health Terry Bowers says at least 300 students are on a waiting list.

“Being able to provide comprehensive, high quality mental health services for students is going to have such a tremendous impact on our students, on their ability to learn and their ability to be functional within the school community.”

Bowers says some situations are extreme. In the previous school year, they documented more than 300 cases of students experiencing suicidal ideation. The first clinic will open at McCarthy at Beard School in January 2025 and eventually Grant Middle School, but it may take time before they’re fully staffed.

Editor's note: Upstate Medical University is a supporter of WAER.