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Julian’s Story
Julian is a 3-year-old preschooler with delays in his language skills, but the DOE failed to provide recommended services.
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Contact Advocates for Children of New YorkA note about AFC's services:In response to the public health emergency resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) will be working remotely as of March 16, 2020, out of concern for the safety and well-being of our staff,...
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03.09.2020 | Today, Advocates for Children joined 18 organizations committed to school stability and educational success for students in foster care in a joint statement in response to an ACS draft policy. The letter urges the City to guarantee busing or other comparable transportation for students...
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03.20.2020 | NY Daily News | “Every day that goes by where children are not receiving educational services is an opportunity missed,” said Randi Levine, policy director for Advocates for Children. “We are very worried about children who are homeless falling further behind.” Read article
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03.20.2020 | Today, Advocates for Children joined 11 other organizations in calling on Chancellor Carranza to ensure that students who are homeless have access to the Regional Enrichment Centers when they open next week. While we do not question the decision to close schools in light of the current...
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Click on the links below to learn more about each of AFC's advocacy priorities for the fiscal year 2021 City budget. Preschool special education classes [PDF] While the City has added hundreds of seats in preschool special classes over the past year, too many preschoolers are waiting...
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A is for All: Meeting the Literacy Needs of Students with and without Disabilities in the New York City Public Schools [PDF]In March 2016, AFC released this report documenting the need for urgent and sustained action to address the particularly low literacy levels for low-income...
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This fact sheet explains how to get help and services to consider if your child is having trouble learning to read and write.
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02.27.2020 | ABC 7 | A recent report by Advocates for Children of New York identified over 114,000 students were homeless in New York City during the 2018-2019, and officials at PS 132 in Washington Heights say nearly one quarter of its students are currently living in shelters or overcrowded homes...
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03.02.2020 | Politico NY | “I think that every step in the process is really broken and as a result the backlog has kind of snowballed into itself,” said Rebecca Shore, director of litigation at Advocates for Children of New York, a nonprofit legal and advocacy organization. At least two...
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02.10.2020 | USA Today | Yolanda, who works at a nonprofit helping victims of sex-trafficking, couldn’t afford the retainer most private lawyers charge; she had to find a free one. Luckily, Landon’s mentor put them in touch with Stein at Advocates for Children, which helps low-income families...
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02.10.2020 | Chalkbeat NY + THE CITY | “Every step in the process really is broken,” said Rebecca Shore, the litigation director for Advocates for Children. The city’s education department has been inundated with a growing number of cases with complaints doubling over the past five years...
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02.12.2020 | SI Live | A report from October identified more than 2,500 Staten Island students in elementary, middle and high schools who are, or have been, homeless. The New York State Technical and Education Assistance Center for Homeless Students, a project of Advocates for Children of New York...
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02.13.2020 | NY1 | Advocates say the hearing process is rife with delays."I hope it helps. We have a number of clients who have been waiting for months, sometimes a year, to get a hearing and get their due process so that their children can get the services that they need," Rebecca Shore, director...
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02.16.2020 | City & State magazine recognized Kim Sweet, AFC's Executive Director, as one of the 100 most powerful education leaders in New York. Kim has made a career out of bringing parents and policymakers together to make New York City a safer, more nurturing place for students with...
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02.19.2020 | Politico NY | The New York Immigration Coalition Education Collaborative, which includes the groups Advocates for Children of New York and the Flanbwayan Haitian Literacy Project, is pushing the Department of Education to develop a $6 million pilot program that would create classrooms...
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02.19.2020 | Chalkbeat NY | From 2013-2017, 4,200 newly arrived older immigrant students — ranging in age from 14 to 21 — were not enrolled in school, according to U.S. Census Bureau data analyzed by Migration Policy Institute, in response to a request from the New York Immigration Coalition. The...
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01.14.2020 | AFC testified before the City Council Committee on Youth Services about access to after-school programming for students with disabilities, students in temporary housing and students in foster care and legislation related to universal after-school programming. Read AFC's...
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Blog: New Analysis Shows NYC Is Short 1,000+ Preschool Special Education Class Seats for Spring 202001.30.2020 | Today, Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) released a new report, Waiting for a Seat: The Shortage of Preschool Special Education Class Seats in New York City, showing a projected shortfall of between 1,028 and 1,932 preschool special education class seats for three- and four-year...
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02.11.2020 | Today, AFC is testifying at the New York State Joint Legislative Hearing on the 2020-2021 Elementary and Secondary Education Budget proposal, urging legislators to fully fund Foundation Aid; increase investments in targeted areas such as preschool special education programs, support...
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01.30.2020 | Chalkbeat NY | Three-year-old Aiden Flores, who has autism and is nonverbal, has been at home in East New York without services since December, when he aged out of Early Intervention services for children with disabilities and became eligible to enroll in preschool.Even though the...