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Mission & vision
The UFT’s Member Assistance Program is committed to fostering the emotional, social and professional well-being of all in-service UFT members throughout New York City. See our mission, vision and core values.
Individual counseling & consultation
Speak privately with a licensed mental health professional who can assist with referrals and access to other mental health resources.
Upcoming events
See all of our future workshops and services for UFT members listed in the UFT Events calendar.
New member support
Connection and camaraderie are essential during your first years in the NYC Department of Education. The Member Assistance Program offers events and member mentoring to support the UFT's newest members.
Counseling
The UFT's Member Assistance Program (MAP) has trained professional counselors who can guide you through issues that can affect your mental health. Our services are free, confidential, professional and voluntary.
Programs & events
Gain new skills, earn professional development credits, and find a new outlook on the things that affect your sense of well-being through MAP's programs, workshops and member events.
About us
The UFT Member Assistance Program has one goal: empowering UFT members to thrive — personally and professionally.
New Retiree Luncheon 2025
About 265 new retirees and guests celebrated their education careers at the UFT Welfare Fund New Retiree Luncheon in Shanker Hall at UFT headquarters on Nov. 18. At a vendor fair prior to lunch, they learned about health care options like the UFT Welfare Fund’s Supplemental Health Insurance Program, as well as classes, seminars and trips offered through the Si Beagle Learning Centers, before enjoying a festive luncheon.
Day of Action 2025
UFT members around the city participated in a Day of Action to show solidarity with paraprofessionals. The action was timed to coincide with the City Council’s public hearing for the “RESPECT check” bill, which would provide annual checks of at least $10,000 to paraprofessionals.
Testimony in support of the "RESPECT check" bill for paraprofessionals
Testimony of Michael Mulgrew, UFT President, Priscilla Castro, Chairperson of the UFT Paraprofessionals Chapter, and others delivered in support of the "RESPECT check" bill for New York City paraprofessionals at the Nov. 13, 2025 City Council hearing...
Written testimony submitted in support of the "RESPECT check" bill for paraprofessionals
Testimony of educators and community members submitted in support of the "RESPECT check" bill for New York City paraprofessionals at the Nov. 13, 2025 City Council hearing.
Embracing abundance
November can be a time of joy, generosity and togetherness. Yet it can also arrive bundled with stress, comparison and a sense of lack — whether financial, emotional or social. Cultivating abundance thinking and gratitude can transform not only how...
Staten Island Parent Conference 2025
Parents, caretakers, educators and community members gathered at the UFT’s Staten Island borough office on Nov. 8 for the UFT Staten Island parent committee’s annual conference. Attendees took the day to bond with other caregivers and gained valuable information and resources during workshops on topics like keeping students safe online and parent-teacher association governance.
Food assistance resources
With SNAP benefits currently blocked by the federal government, we've compiled food assistance resources, including maps and search engines to find food banks and distribution sites. Share this information so everyone can get the nourishment and...
Summary comparison of health plans
Summary comparison of health plans. This chart is for employees and those retirees not eligible for Medicare.
New lawsuit could put our premium-free health benefits in jeopardy
A lawsuit has been filed seeking to block the NYC Employees PPO plan, which replaces the GHI CBP plan on Jan. 1, 2026.
Teacher Union Day 2025
About 1,700 UFT members, families and friends gathered at the New York Hilton on Nov. 2, 2025, to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the 1960 strike that won collective bargaining rights for UFT members. At the union’s annual Teacher Union Day event, more than 250 individual members and chapters were honored for their exceptional work and longtime service to the union’s mission, including the members of the UFT Health Care Committee and the Occupational and Physical Therapists Chapter.
What is the Member Assistance Program (MAP)?
The UFT's Member Assistance Program is a union-based program providing free, confidential and voluntary services to all in-service UFT members. Our staff are licensed mental health professionals who specialize in working with NYC school-based staff...
Setting healthy boundaries
Setting boundaries is an important step to keep relationships healthy. By making time and space for positive interactions and our own priorities, boundaries help us avoid feeling burned out.
Valina Vega, family child care provider
Valina Vega is a UFT-represented child care provider who runs an independent day care business out of her home in Brooklyn. "No matter what these children go through, I’m there for them," she says.
Give new members a warm welcome
UFT Vice President of Elementary Education Karen Alford urges members to welcome and offer their support to the 6,600 new educators hired this fall to bring more classes under the new class size limits that the union fought so hard to secure.
Members answer call for Mamdani
Hundreds of UFT members knocked on doors across the city and worked the phones to campaign for Zohran Mamdani and the union’s other endorsed candidates in the weeks leading up to the mayoral election.
Teacher’s Choice dollar amounts
Find out this year's Teacher's Choice allotment by title. The program reimburses eligible UFT members for supplemental instructional supplies that they purchase out of pocket.
Nature journaling brings science to life
Nature journaling not only boosts students’ attention, sense of well-being and joy, but also strengthens their scientific, mathematical and critical-thinking skills.
Union offers new tool to help members track their pay
Curious if you’re being paid what you deserve? Check out the new UFT Salary Checkup tool in the UFT Member Hub.
BERS to TRS transfer form due Dec. 10
UFT members who have requested to transfer from the Board of Education Retirement System to the Teachers’ Retirement System must complete and notarize a key form by Dec. 10 for their transfer to be finalized.
TRS’ new Roth option
The Teachers’ Retirement System introduced a Roth option in addition to its Tax-Deferred Annuity Program starting in 2026.
Learn about this new opportunity to save for retirement.
Retirees join the fight
Retirees at the Staten Island Borough Office knit and crochet stuffed animals, blankets and other goods to support the UFT's Making Strides against breast cancer efforts, while other retirees joined members in various walks throughout the city and...
FAQ on the NYCE PPO plan for pre-Medicare retirees
Here are some commonly asked questions about the new city health plan, NYCE PPO, specifically for pre-Medicare retirees.
Retirees work the phones to elect Mamdani
In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 4 election, the Retired Teachers Chapter held a dozen afternoon phone banks at UFT headquarters in Manhattan, where RTC members urged fellow retirees to vote for Zohran Mamdani and the union’s other endorsed...
What to know about RMDs
About three-quarters of UFT members participate in the Tax-Deferred Annuity program. Retirees who are 73 or older must withdraw a certain percentage of funds – known as required minimum distributions (RMDs) — from the tax-deferred annuity each year...
From the world of dance to psychoanalysis
Retiree Carla Levy has taken the deep listening skills and willingness to help people that she used as a dance musician at Fiorello H. LaGuardia HS of Music and the Performing Arts into her second act as a psychoanalyst.
Why I support the new city health plan
With some reservations and a great deal of hope, I voted for the new NYCE PPO. The new city health plan includes several significant improvements over the GHI CBP plan it replaces. Most important for our pre-Medicare eligible members living outside...
Hailing the path taken to new health plan
I’m proud that the UFT led the charge at the bargaining table and even prouder that we modeled participatory unionism at its best in the process leading up to the Municipal Labor Committee’s final vote on the new plan on Sept. 30. From the beginning...
Growing scientists in Gowanus
Amber Carlin-Mishkin doesn’t just teach science — she teaches her students to think like scientists. Through a new partnership with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, the 5th-grade teacher at PS 118 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, helps her students view their...