Need Help?
Call AFC's Education Helpline
(866) 427-6033
Monday to Thursday
10 am to 4 pm
Julian’s Story
Julian is a 3-year-old preschooler with delays in his language skills, but the DOE failed to provide recommended services.
Donate Now
Help Advocates for Children support more New York City students!
Stay connected
Sign up for AFC's email updates and find other ways to take action.
-
50th Anniversary Spring Benefit Event Committee MembersKimberley D. HarrisEvent Committee Co-chair, Board Vice President, Advocates for Children of New YorkLucy FatoEvent Committee Co-chair, Board Member, Advocates for Children of New YorkRaul F. YanesEvent Committee Co-chair, Board Member,...
-
04.22.2022 | NY Daily News | “The DOE really asked a lot of parents during the pandemic. It’s a much harder ask for parents who don’t speak English,” said Rita Rodriguez-Engberg, the director of the Immigrant Students’ Rights Project at Advocates for Children.Orquiria, a Bronx mother of two city...
-
Blog: NYC Council members, advocates push Education Department to ramp up support for kids in foster care04.20.2022 | NY Daily News | “For too long, students in foster care have been an afterthought at the Department of Education – resulting in students going without needed school supports at a time in their lives when so much is unfamiliar and uncertain,” said Erika Palmer, a supervising attorney for...
-
04.20.2022 | New York Post | Erika Palmer, an attorney at Advocates for Children, said that after foster kid “Daniel,” a pseudonym to protect his privacy, was threatened by his mom with a knife, he got into trouble at school that resulted in his suspension. Daniel was eventually allowed back...
-
04.20.2022 | Chalkbeat NY | Maggie Moroff, a special education policy expert at Advocates for Children, said occupational and physical therapists provide support that is often a precondition to academic success, such as learning to grip a pencil or helping students build up enough endurance to...
-
04.20.2022 | PIX 11 | Advocates and city leaders pressured the Department of Education Wednesday to fulfill a promise to support students in foster care. The DOE announced a division dedicated to the needs of students in foster care in December of 2021. City data shows those children are...
-
04.20.2022 | NY1 | Advocates say the city has promised a staff of 11 for the office. City officials testified four positions have been posted. None, so far, have been filled. “Meaning there is still not anyone at DOE focused solely on students in care,” Erika Plamer, an attorney with Advocates...
-
04.20.2022 | City & State | The four positions that the department is now hiring for include a senior manager of foster care support, an interagency coordinator, a policy associate, and a data manager. But education advocates noted that only the first position is described as focusing solely on...
-
04.21.2022 | Chalkbeat NY | “It’s very frustrating and actually quite depressing for us as advocates because we know that when we meet a student who lives geographically far from the [English language learner] transfer schools, we know immediately it is going to be an uphill battle,” said Rita...
-
Loading…
-
04.20.2022 | Today, AFC is testifying before the City Council Committee on Education regarding the educational needs of students in foster care. We are urging the City to fully staff a small DOE team focused on students in foster care and guarantee bus service so students don’t have to...
-
Winter 2022 | Click on the links below to learn more about each of AFC's advocacy priorities [PDF] for the Fiscal Year 2023 City budget. Ensure Every Student Learns to Read [PDF] One of the most fundamental responsibilities of schools is to teach children how to read. Yet far too many New...
-
04.13.2022 | City Limits | “Work-based learning opportunities like SYEP are especially important for English Language Learners (ELLs), but many immigrant students and students learning English have historically been left out of these programs, due to documentation barriers and a lack of language...
-
04.04.2022 | City & State | In other areas, the council is calling for funding to hire new positions, including $12 million to hire shelter-based community coordinators at the Department of Education. According to the council’s budget response, only 52% of city students who have been homeless...
-
Contact Advocates for Children of New YorkA note about AFC's services:Due to COVID-19, we will not be admitting unscheduled visitors out of concern for the safety and well-being of our staff, our clients, and our fellow New Yorkers. Please contact us by e-mail or telephone.The Jill Chaifetz...
-
04.07.2022 | PIX 11 | Advocates For Children said about 15% of approximately 200,000 special needs students are not getting their legally mandated services from the city. "Currently about 1 out of 6 students with disabilites are not getting all of their legally mandated services, or [are...
-
04.07.2022 | Chalkbeat NY | “It seems to be really inconsistent in how much they’ve been able to do for kids at different schools,” said Maggie Moroff, a special education expert at Advocates for Children, a nonprofit group. Schools are “offering what they have as opposed to what the kids need...
-
Blog: NY judge tosses lawsuit for students with disabilities seeking services lost during the pandemic03.30.2022 | Chalkbeat NY | The lawsuit, filed in November 2020 by the nonprofit Advocates for Children, claimed that tens of thousands of students with disabilities missed crucial services and instruction after the city’s school buildings shut down. In the immediate aftermath of the pandemic...
-
03.24.2022 | New York Zero-to-Three Network | "After law school, I came to Advocates for Children and represented individual families whose children were facing barriers to accessing the early childhood services and programs they needed – children being excluded from early childhood programs...