On Tuesday, June 12, Brooklyn Deputy Borough President Yvonne Graham joined elected officials, health service providers, students, and parents on the steps of City Hall for a rally addressing the need for mental health services in school-based health centers (SBHCs).

“It is clear that the costs of basic mental health services pale in comparison to the benefits such services give to society,” said Deputy Borough President Graham, who has devoted her career to public health. “And in the society that is New York City, where the poor and immigrant populations are often daunted and shuffled about by the complex service delivery system, school-based health centers are the ideal—and often the only—places where young people can get the medical attention they need, and deserve.”

Deputy Borough President Graham spoke on behalf of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who supports the special request—made by the Coalition for School-based Primary Care, led by New York Presbyterian, Montefiore Medical Center, and Children’s Aid Society, along with Council Member Gale A. Brewer—for the City of New York to fund mental health services in each of the 61 SBHCs in citywide middle and high schools.