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
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
Response to Release of NYC Executive Budget
04.25.2019 | Today, Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), issued the following statement in response to the release of the City’s Fiscal Year 2020 Executive Budget: We are pleased that the City is investing an additional $33 million to help support students with disabilities, including by hiring more... Read more
AFC signs on to an amicus brief in Department of Commerce v. New York
03.27.2019 | Advocates for Children signed on to an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Department of Commerce v. New York, challenging the proposed question on the 2020 census concerning citizenship status. The brief argues that including a citizenship question on the census will result in an undercount of immigrant... Read more
AFC in the News
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
Renewal schools’ longer days a casualty of budget cuts, but social workers for homeless students now in New York City’s plans
04.25.2019 | Chalkbeat New York | The added positions are welcome but far from enough, said Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children, in a statement. She said the city needs almost twice as many social workers to address the growing population of homeless students, estimated at about 110,000. “We are pleased that the mayor has... Read more
NYC politicians push Mayor de Blasio for homeless child funding
04.18.2019 | New York Daily News | In March, 15 groups who work with children and the homeless called on de Blasio to restore the money in his $92 billion budget — unveiled in February — which is the biggest in the city’s history. Now 35 city council members have joined the push, with all of them signing a letter delivered to the mayor on... Read more