New York City School Social Workers in a Pandemic: Lessons Learned from COVID-19

ABSTRACT

During the beginning stages of COVID-19, school social workers in New York City (NYC) were at the forefront of managing the mental health of youth and families. There were multiple barriers that interfered with the level of care that school social workers wanted and needed to provide to both students and their families. This article is an NYC school social worker's firsthand account of how she and her collaborative team managed the mental health of NYC students and families. Specifically, this article addresses suicidal ideation and suicidality in adolescents during the pandemic. This article also addresses the disparities and recommendations for further access to mental health care in NYC's racially and socioeconomically diverse school communities. The article recommends both micro and macro changes that can be implemented to better address the acute crisis and long-term trauma implications for this population. Finally, this article makes recommendations for furthering social work educational practices to better train clinicians to handle future crises.