07.11.2022 | The New York Post | “Last fall, the City announced a first-ever DOE team devoted to meeting the unique needs of students in foster care. However, the DOE delayed posting these positions,” read the letter, co-signed by Advocates for Children and other child welfare and education groups. 

“While we understand that several positions are now moving forward, the DOE has still not committed publicly to hiring the full team that it promised to serve students in foster care,” it said. 

Advocates, in their letter Friday, also called on the DOE to guarantee foster care students receive bus transportation — as required by federal law — so they don’t have to change schools each time they are placed in a new home. Close to one in five students switched schools when entering foster care — and again with each change in foster care placement, the advocates wrote, citing data from the 2019-2020 school year. 

“For students separated from their families and placed in foster care, school has the potential to be an important stabilizing factor in their lives,” read the memo. “However, without guaranteed transportation, this potential often goes unrealized, causing many students to transfer schools and experience further instability.” Li atik