Advocates for Children of New York works on behalf of children who are at greatest risk for school-based discrimination and/or academic failure due to poverty, disability, race, ethnicity, immigrant or English Language Learner status, sexual orientation, gender identity, homelessness, or involvement in the foster care or juvenile justice systems.
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Spotlight
AFC’s COVID-19 Education Recovery Plan and City Budget Priorities
Spring 2021 | AFC has outlined our priorities for education investments we are recommending for the final NYC budget as the City decides how to use the largest one-time federal investment in education in our nation’s history. Learn more about our COVID-19 Education Recovery Plan and NYC budget priorities. On May 25, 2021, we... Continue reading
1,200 NYC Preschoolers with Disabilities Went Without Seats in Preschool Special Education Classes Last Year
06.09.2021 | Today, Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) issued the following response to the NYC Department of Education’s first release of preschool special education data required pursuant to Local Law 21 of 2020:Data released by the DOE show that at the end of the 2019-2020 school year, 1,215 preschoolers with disabilities were waiting for... Continue reading
New Report Finds Alarming Disparities in Police Response to Students in Emotional Crisis in NYC Schools
06.03.2021 | Today, Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) released a new data brief, Police Response to Students in Emotional Crisis: A Call for Comprehensive Mental Health and Social-Emotional Support for Students in Police-Free Schools [PDF], exploring data on police response to more than 12,000 incidents between July 2016 and June 2020... Continue reading
Advocates Call on DOE to Invest in Supports for Students in Foster Care
06.02.2021 | Today, Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) joined 35 child welfare and education organizations to call on Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Porter to invest in support for students in foster care. We're aksing that they provide funding in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget to create a DOE office focused full-time on students in foster care... Continue reading
AFC in the News
Police Intervention in student mental health crises and how to make schools more healing-centered
06.09.2021 | WBAI | Dawn Yuster, director of AFC's School Justice Project, joined Leonie Haimson on her show 'Talk out of School' to discuss our new report on police interventions in New York City Department of Education schools, and the comprehensive mental health supports we need to invest in. Listen to the episode Continue reading
Over 1,200 preschoolers with disabilities left waiting for special education seat last year
06.09.2021 | amNY | “The City and State continue to expand prekindergarten while preschoolers with the most significant needs are stuck waiting for seats in violation of their legal rights,” said Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York. “Parents of students with disabilities want to know why their children... Continue reading
Summer school busing gap could exclude homeless students and children with disabilities, advocates fear
06.07.2021 | Chalkbeat NY | “The [education department] claims that ‘All New York City students will have an opportunity to participate in the program,’” Rebecca Shore, the litigation director at Advocates for Children, wrote in a Friday letter to a top education department lawyer. “In practice, however, the DOE’s refusal to provide bus service to... Continue reading
Children as young as 5 years old are being handcuffed and removed from New York's schools by the police
06.05.2021 | Business Insider | "Five-, six-, seven-year-olds getting handcuffed in school. Very, very troubling," Dawn Yuster, director of the School Justice Project at Advocates for Children, told Spectrum News NY1. "I, personally, professionally have represented clients as young as eight years old, who has been handcuffed in school — and I will... Continue reading