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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AFC's 2019 Spring Benefit
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
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Tribeca Rooftop
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Spotlight
Hundreds of Preschoolers with Disabilities Waiting for Preschool Special Education Classes in New York
06.11.2019 | Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) issued the following statement in response to Governor Cuomo’s announcement that the State is approving only a two percent increase in rates for preschool special education programs for the 2019-2020 school year: New York State is currently violating the rights of children who need... Read more
AFC Testifies on the New York City FY 2020 Executive Budget
05.23.2019 | Today, Advocates for Children is testifying before the City Council Committee on Finance on the importance of increasing funding for several education priorities, including school social workers, direct mental health support for students, and educational support for students who are homeless and students in foster care. The ARISE... Read more
AFC’s Fiscal Year 2020 City Budget Priorities
Spring 2019 | On March 20, 2019, we testified [PDF] before the City Council Committee on Education on the preliminary budget and the importance of increasing funding for school social workers, direct mental health support for students, educational support for students who are homeless and students in foster care, and preschool special... Read more
The Advocate: Special Edition on Literacy
05.03.2019 | The latest issue of AFC's newsletter for parents and professionals, The Advocate, is a special edition dedicated to literacy! Highlights include: Answers to frequently asked questions about reading instruction, phonics, and Orton-Gillingham; A list of reading milestones that describe what your child should be learning... Read more
AFC in the News
Manhattan Borough President wants de Blasio’s Thrive NYC funds for school social workers
06.06.2019 | New York Daily News | As it now stands, 100 city schools that serve 50 or more students who live in homeless shelters do not have a social worker specifically tasked to addressing their needs, according to Randi Levine, policy director for Advocates for Children of New York. “We get calls from families of students who need behavioral... Read more
Surge of complaints by parents of special education students sparks ‘crisis’
05.28.2019 | THE CITY | Rebecca Shore, director of litigation for the group Advocates for Children of New York, said parents file complaints for a host of reasons. Some students are placed into schools that don’t offer programs mandated on their education plans. Others are thrust into classroom settings that don’t match those mandated by the IEP.... Read more
Carranza says changes to NYC’s school discipline manual are coming soon. Here are 4 questions we’re asking.
05.21.2019 | Chalkbeat New York | Suspensions have generally fallen, but lengthier out-of-school suspensions have remained relatively steady under de Blasio. Discipline reform advocates are hoping the city will aggressively cut down on these so-called “superintendent” suspensions, which were handed out more than 10,000 times last school year... Read more
Social Workers for Homeless Kids is Not the Place to Skimp
05.15.2019 | Gotham Gazette | Op-ed by AFC Executive Director Kim Sweet: Cutting funding for the program and then restoring it should not be viewed as a victory when thousands of students living in shelter lack access to the crucial help Bridging the Gap social workers can provide. Schools alone cannot end homelessness. But, with the right... Read more