NYC public schools fail children in foster care: report

Thousands of children who spend time in foster care each year have been let down by the public school system, according to a report released Wednesday.

New data from Advocates for Children, obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request, found that students in foster care face some of the most dire trends in attendance, suspensions and test scores of any student population.

One in five kids who spend any time in foster care during high school drop out, the report found.

“Youth in the foster system have enormous potential that too often goes unrealized because the systems charged with their care and education have failed to meet their needs,” said Erika Palmer, a supervising attorney at Advocates for Children, in a statement.

The report included a series of recommendations, including teacher and staff training, improved communication with the families and caregivers and providing specialized behavioral and mental health services.

Roughly 7,500 students annually spend time in foster care, a relatively small share of all public school children. Advocates say means they often get overlooked.

But a school system of just New York City foster care children would be bigger than the vast majority of districts in the state, Palmer explained — with some of the poorest outcomes anywhere in New York. Roughly 80% of foster care students or higher were not proficient in reading and math before the pandemic, state tests show.

Half of foster care children are considered “chronically” absent, meaning they miss one in every 10 days in a school year. While all students suffer when they miss class, foster youth in particular who already face housing and family instability may lose out on building relationships with friends and trusted adults.

Brooklyn mom Crystal has struggled to get her former foster child — now adopted — to regularly attend school. A teenage daughter, she is one of six children Crystal cares for in a two-bedroom apartment.

“She’s cutting so many classes, I don’t know nothing about it,” said Crystal, who asked that only her first name be used. “She misses so many days of school, you all got her [marked as] absent. I don’t get phone calls for all of that.”

Instead, Crystal said she learned of her daughter’s attendance problems when she stopped by the school for another matter. She suspects the staff reported her family to the Administration for Children’s Services. Her last name is being withheld, as a situation with that agency is ongoing.

“I’m trying to get help for my kids,” said Crystal. “The only thing I’m getting in my face is ACS.”

Crystal’s daughter will turn 16 later this year — an age when students are particularly vulnerable to the problems outlined in the report. More than one in three older youth who have spent time in foster care miss more days of school than they attend, according to the report.

“If you can improve attendance, outcomes are going to improve, and students are going to need less supports in the long term,” said Palmer.

Advocates for Children found children in foster care were suspended at four times the rate of their peers before the pandemic.

Nearly half of students at Passages Academy for detained or incarcerated children ages 17 and under are in the foster system, while more than 15% of young adults at Rikers’ East River Academy are part of that population.

“Having served as a foster parent and as an educator, I know all too well the challenges faced by children in foster care, and I take the troubling findings of this new report very personally.” Councilwoman Rita Joseph, who heads the Education Committee, said in a statement.

Joseph introduced a bill last month that would require the Department of Education to publicly report data on students in foster care, when the school system reports on other student groups.

Other reforms are already underway. After months of delays, the school system created its first-ever division for students in foster care this fall. Eight staffers were hired by November, according to spokeswoman Jenna Lyle, and a ninth is expected to receive an offer this month. Parent coordinators, principals and superintendents are also partaking in professional development on foster student.

“The issues and findings cited in this report comprise our motivation for the creation of a team wholly devoted to serving our students in foster care,” said Lyle. “The foster care team is working collaboratively with school administrators, social workers and counselors to increase communication with both foster parents and biological parents to model and communicate the practice of educational co-parenting.”