The Department of Education is launching a plan to ensure students across the city are properly coping with the trauma of the past year.

Mayor Bill de Blasio says the new initiative is critical to making sure children are mentally OK after dealing with months of traumatic changes because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2021 Student Achievement Plan will make social, emotional and academic behavior screenings available for New York City students in grades K-12.

The goal is to make sure children have the necessary resources to support their mental health and well-being.

The initiative is set to begin in September with the initial focus on students in the 27 communities affected the most by COVID-19.

The plan also includes measures to hire 150 more social workers as well as the addition of community schools that will provide services to address the specific needs of those neighborhoods.

De Blasio says now that there is a COVID-19 vaccine, it is time to focus on how to make next year better and that it starts with improving the lives of children.

"Every adult out there listening, you've been through so much in this horrible year 2020 but our kids, our kids are growing through so much in every sense and it's harder for them to make sense of," he said.

The mayor's office says the ultimate goal is to make sure every child across the city has access to these mental health services but they'll need assistance from the federal government to make that a reality.