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An Act to Expand School-Based Mental Health and Dropout Prevention Services in New York
Summary
This bill creates a New York grant program to help public schools expand on-site mental health counseling, absenteeism intervention, dropout-prevention case management, and referral partnerships for at-risk students. It prioritizes high-need districts and requires annual reports on participation, attendance, graduation outcomes, and implementation needs.
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Judicial Review
No judicial review
No Supreme Court cases are currently attached to this law.
No cases filed.
Sponsor
Leon PattersonDemocratic Party
Cosponsors
- Marcus DonovanDemocratic Party
- Evie CarringtonDemocratic Party
- Alberto MontoyaDemocratic Party
- Sophia DelaneyDemocratic Party
- Jordan CarterDemocratic Party
Archived proceedingsNew York Chamber
Debate in progress
An Act to Expand School-Based Mental Health and Dropout Prevention Services in New York
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10
Speakers
6
Chair bulletins
3
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This bill has been enacted via no action (pocket pass) at the Governor review deadline.
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Result: passed.
Aye: 74 seats
Nay: 26 seats
Present: 1 seats
Total seats: 100
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Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill. Several members have already made the central point well: a student does not simply vanish from school overnight. As Representative Hunt, Representative Bartel, and others have said, chronic absenteeism and dropout risk build over time. If we know that, then the responsible thing is to intervene earlier, with people on the ground who can actually help.
What I like here is that this is not written as a blank check or a vague promise. It is targeted to high-need districts, it ties together counseling, attendance intervention, case management, and referral partnerships, and it requires annual reporting so New York can see what is working and what is not. Representative Bartel was right to emphasize accountability, because these programs only keep public trust if they show results and identify implementation needs honestly.
Students carrying trauma, anxiety, family instability, or untreated mental health needs are not discipline problems to be shuffled along until they disappear from the rolls. They are young people we still have a duty to reach. If a school can connect one student to counseling, get them back in class, and keep them on a path to graduation, that is not only compassionate policy, it is competent government. I urge support.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the point made by Representative Hunt, and echoed by Representatives Bartel and Carpenter, that a dropout rarely happens all at once. It happens in stages—missed days, untreated struggles, disconnection, and finally a young person who no longer believes anybody in authority is truly looking out for them. If schools can step in earlier with counseling, attendance intervention, and a responsible adult who stays involved, that is not social engineering. That is stewardship.
I come at this as a conservative who believes families should come first and schools should stay focused on education. But I also believe we cannot ignore reality when a child is hurting, absent, and sliding toward dropping out. This bill is stronger because it prioritizes high-need districts and requires annual reporting on participation, attendance, graduation outcomes, and what schools still need. Those guardrails matter, and Representative Bartel was right to insist on accountability.
I would still urge New York to make sure these services support parents rather than replace them, and that referral partnerships are used carefully and transparently. But as written, this is a practical effort to help vulnerable students before failure becomes permanent. On that basis, I support the bill.
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Mr. Speaker, I think Representative Hunt and Representative Bartel are both getting at the right point: by the time a student is formally counted as a dropout, the failure has already happened in slow motion. Chronic absenteeism, untreated mental health struggles, instability at home, and a lack of adult follow-through rarely stay confined to the classroom. If schools can intervene earlier, with counseling and case management that is actually on site and accessible, that is a practical step, not an ideological one.
That said, I am not inclined to write blank checks for good intentions. What makes this bill more defensible is that it prioritizes high-need districts and requires annual reporting on participation, attendance, graduation outcomes, and implementation needs. If New York is going to spend money here, it should be able to show whether these interventions are reaching the students most at risk and whether they are improving outcomes.
I would still urge close attention to how these partnerships are structured and whether schools are being asked to absorb administrative burdens that pull them away from instruction. But as drafted, this is a targeted effort to keep vulnerable students connected to school before they disappear from it. On balance, that is a responsible use of state attention, and I support the bill.
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Mr. Speaker, I’ll give Representative Hunt this much: she is right that when a student disappears from the classroom, the problem usually started long before the paperwork says “dropout.” If a school can identify trouble early, bring in counseling, and keep one responsible adult on the case, that can make a real difference. Nobody serious wants to watch kids drift out of the system because the adults were too slow to act.
But I also want this chamber to keep its head. Every time government sees a real problem, the reflex is to build another grant program and call it reform. If New York is going to do this, it needs to stay targeted to high-need districts, tied to measurable outcomes, and firmly focused on students actually at risk of chronic absenteeism and dropping out. Annual reporting on attendance, graduation results, and implementation needs is not red tape here; it is the bare minimum for accountability.
So while I’m not usually eager to cheer on another layer of education spending, this bill at least points resources toward order, intervention, and getting young people back on track before failure becomes permanent. If New York carries it out with discipline instead of bureaucracy, this is the kind of practical prevention that can save money, strengthen families, and give schools a better chance to do their job.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill. Too many students fall off the radar long before they officially drop out, and by then the damage is harder and more expensive to fix. If a school can connect a struggling student with counseling, attendance intervention, and a responsible adult who follows through, that is not mission creep. That is basic prevention.
I know some members get wary whenever they hear the word “program,” and I share the concern that we should not write blank checks with no accountability. But this bill is targeted to high-need districts and requires annual reporting on participation, attendance, graduation outcomes, and implementation needs. That is exactly the kind of structure we should want if we are going to test what works and stop funding what does not.
From my own background in investigations and public service, I learned that ignoring warning signs never makes a problem smaller. Chronic absenteeism, untreated mental health issues, and disengagement are warning signs. Schools are often the one place where those signs are visible early enough to act. New York ought to give its districts the tools to intervene before a teenager becomes another preventable statistic.
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