LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION memorializing Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to
proclaim March 1-7, 2015, 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 New York State has a diag-
nosable 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, School mental health programs are critical to early identifi-
cation of and early intervention for mental health problems; and
WHEREAS, School social workers, being licensed mental health profes-
sionals 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 2014, the high school graduation rate in New York State
was seventy-six percent, and approximately 60,000 high school students
drop out annually; and
WHEREAS, Research indicates that school mental health programs improve
educational outcomes by decreasing absences, dropout rates and disci-
pline 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 1-7, 2015, 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 tran-
smitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New
York.