The Imprint | Bronx foster mom Jean Pennant is used to the hectic routine of school pickups and dropoffs. She has taken care of 14 foster children over the last decade.

Pennant’s foster kids are among the roughly 6,500 kids in out-of-home care who show up in New York City’s public classrooms with unique challenges. As a group, foster youth are more likely than their peers to struggle in school and less likely to graduate on time, if at all.

But their needs are now being addressed by a dedicated Office of Foster Care, which the local Department of Education launched in 2023. In interviews, advocates and school officials said students and their families are now receiving more individualized help and resources through the office’s nine-person team. The staff includes five foster care support coordinators, a data manager and a training associate.

In its first year and a half, the team has served as a resource for teachers who need to know when and how to contact a child’s birth parents, social workers or temporary guardians. The office has gathered initial data on students’ academic progress and improved communication between families and school staff. Workshops focusing on the distinct needs of kids being raised in the child welfare system are being held at elementary and middle schools in nine of the city’s 32 districts, with plans to expand the staff training to high schools and districts citywide.

There have been other benefits as well. Birth parents who’ve lost temporary custody are often blocked from accessing their children’s education records and they frequently miss parent-teacher conferences because they’re no longer being notified. The new team is tasked with helping biological parents remain up to date on their children’s academic lives.

Erika Palmer, a supervising attorney at Advocates For Children who helped lobby for the new office, called working with its staff a “positive experience” for the parents involved.

“We wanted there to be someone to serve as that liaison so that parents could continue to be involved with their kids’ education while their children were in foster care,” Palmer said. “And I’m hopeful that now that schools are more mindful of parents’ rights.”