Advocates for Children of New York

We are extremely pleased about our recent partnership with Advocates for Children of New York. AFC's mission is to promote access to the best education New York can provide for all students, especially students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. We are working with AFC to help deliver our innovative educational assessment program to a small group of young people in need of educational support, and hope to expand our collaboration with this important and inspiring group in the future.

AFC, "fighting for the rights of students since 1971," provides free or low cost individual legal advocacy assistance for families and children who are having difficulty obtaining appropriate educational services -- including special ed, disciplinary, and other types of issues. They also work to ensure that children in the foster care system or whose families are homeless do not lose out on their education because they are moving from place to place.

Advocates for Children produces informative guides for parents on issues such as grade holdovers, the educational rights of immigrant families, and children with behavioral issues. Information is available in multiple languages. The organization has served as the lead counsel on a number of groundbreaking lawsuits that have helped to secure the rights of New York City children, and conducts over 40 different training workshops on education law and child welfare issues.

Advocates for Children of  New York provides a free education helpline, Monday through Thursday from 10 am to 4 pm at 1-866-427-6033. Parents can call and speak directly with an attorney or advocate at no charge.

Read about some of their success stories here.