Nonprofit innovator designs afterschool around trauma-informed care for high-need students

NEW YORK, Oct. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Partnership with Children (PWC), a 118-year nonprofit supporting the mental health and wellness of schoolchildren across New York, is launching a new kind of afterschool program with a foundation in trauma-informed mental health care for high-need tweens and teens in Brooklyn and the Bronx.

With a vision to reimagine what afterschool looks like, PWC is breaking the mold with three new programs extending its trademark “ecosystem of mental health support” to help Middle School children cope with poverty-related stressors and build essential life skills while still enjoying afterschool activities.

PWC’s new afterschool programs for South Bronx Academy for Applied Media and Riverdale Avenue Middle School, where it is lead Community School provider, and Mott Hall in Brooklyn adjacent to a PWC Community School, are part of the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) COMPASS afterschool initiative adding some 10,000 afterschool seats this year.

“Partnership with Children is enormously proud to be part of the City’s bold financial investment in afterschool. We have before us a profound opportunity to prepare New York’s schoolchildren for successful futures with an intentional, integrated ecosystem of support centered on mental health,” states Wesner Pierre, CEO of PWC. With a lifelong career in out-of-schooltime leadership, and membership in the Mayor’s Commission on Universal After-School, Pierre brings a long-held passion for supporting children in achieving their potential.

PWC’s hallmark approach is embedding trauma-informed mental health in every aspect of its work, from how its social workers and staff support students and families, and how it designs its programs and environments, to how it trains its leaders and experts. 

In these ways, the organization demonstrates that mental health is not a separate service to be introduced only when a child is struggling, and that students’ relationships, emotions, strengths, challenges, and needs do not change when the bell rings.

This model has been incubated at PS 194 in West Harlem, where PWC is lead Community School and Beacon Afterschool provider. There, mental health and wellness is foundational to the afterschool youth development program building social emotional learning, family outreach, robotics, sports, academic and arts enrichment.

“Partnership with Children has been an essential part of the PS 194 community, helping us strengthen academic outcomes while ensuring that students, families, and staff have access to the social-emotional and mental health support they need to thrive,” says Wanda Acevedo, principal at PS 194. “Over the years, we have seen double digit gains in both reading and math proficiency and a significant decrease in student behavior incidents, reflecting a school culture where students feel supported, connected, and ready to learn. From the social workers to the after-school activity specialists, every member of the PWC team contributes to the success of our children. I am grateful for the difference they make every day.”

The following are examples of ways that PWC’s afterschool programs, as exemplified at PS 194, create a seamless ecosystem of mental health wellness that extends to families and staff:

• PWC’s in-school social workers overlap into afterschool hours, when they are reinforced by trauma-informed activities leaders.
• Afterschool staff start their day earlier by participating in the school community so they are already familiar with students’ needs and strategies that work in meeting them.
• Overstretched parents are supported by afterschool teams who build trust and help follow up with appointments or other supports.

These approaches inform how social workers and educators understand behavior, how adults build relationships with young people, and how students can successfully build the skills they will need for a successful and fulfilling life.

The metrics on this approach demonstrate results across the schools PWC serves:  Across PWC’s schools serving 20,000 students and families, 89% of teachers report that students say they have progressed towards their academic or mental health goals, and 85% said their students felt happier and more motivated to attend school. 87% of parents said their children felt encouraged to be active partners in their child’s education and 84% said they felt empowered to support learning at home.

About PWC
Since 1908, Partnership with Children (PWC) has strengthened the emotional, social, and cognitive skills of children in New York City to succeed in school, society, and life. PWC embeds full-time, licensed clinical social workers, youth development specialists, and teaching artists in schools to provide young people growing up in poverty with trauma-informed mental health counseling, family outreach, community-based programming, and healing-based arts education. Through this targeted approach, PWC addresses the unique mental health challenges of under-resourced communities and empowers students to build the skills necessary to break cycles of poverty and become advocates for their communities. Last year, PWC’s work impacted over 20,000 children and families across 44 NYC public schools. www.partnershipwithchildren.org

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SOURCE Partnership with Children