New York City is reimagining what afterschool can be — and it’s putting kids’ mental health at the center of it.
Partnership with Children (PWC), a 118-year-old nonprofit that supports the mental health and wellness of schoolchildren across New York, announced on October 15 that it is launching three brand-new afterschool programs built on a foundation of trauma-informed mental health care for high-need tweens and teens in the Bronx and Brooklyn.
The three new programs will serve students at South Bronx Academy for Applied Media and Riverdale Avenue Middle School — where PWC is the lead Community School provider — and at Mott Hall in Brooklyn, next door to another PWC Community School. The programs are part of the Department of Youth and Community Development’s COMPASS afterschool initiative, which is adding some 10,000 afterschool seats across the city this year.
Instead of treating afterschool as just a place to wait for pickup, PWC is designing these programs to help middle schoolers cope with poverty-related stress and build essential life skills — while still getting to enjoy everything afterschool should be. The organization’s signature approach weaves mental health support into every layer of the program: how its social workers and staff support students and families, how the spaces are designed, and how its leaders are trained.
PWC CEO Wesner Pierre — a lifelong out-of-school-time leader who also serves on the Mayor’s Commission on Universal After-School — says the organization is proud to be part of the city’s bold investment in afterschool, calling it a profound opportunity to prepare New York’s schoolchildren for successful futures with support centered on mental health.
For families in the South Bronx and Brooklyn, that means more safe, caring places for their kids to land after the bell rings — places built to strengthen the whole child. And that’s a win for the entire city.
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