Assistant Project Director, Project Achieve

Advocates For Children (AFC) is a dynamic social justice organization that strives to ensure a high-quality education for New York students who face barriers to academic success, focusing on students from low-income backgrounds. AFC works on behalf of children and youth who are at greatest risk of academic failure due to poverty, race, ethnicity, disability, homelessness, immigration status/limited English proficiency, or involvement in the child welfare or juvenile/criminal legal systems.

We use uniquely integrated strategies to advance systemic reform, empower families and communities, and advocate for the educational rights of individual students.

AFC grounds our work in our organization’s values:

• Family-Centered: We listen to what families want for their children and empower them with information and support.
• Expertise: We ground our advocacy in more than 50 years of experience with the NYC public schools and deep knowledge of the legal and education systems affecting the students and families we serve.
• Passion: We are united by our unrelenting drive to dismantle obstacles to education and our unwavering dedication to NYC’s students and families.
• Community: We foster collaboration and inclusive practices within our team and with outside partners so we can learn from different perspectives and unite in advancing our common goals.
• Justice: We view the law as a powerful tool to bridge gaps in access to education and help families from under-represented communities fight for their rights.
• Impact: We recognize that our value lies in the difference we make in the lives of students and their families and push ourselves to achieve concrete results.

For more information on AFC, see (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)..

AFC seeks an attorney to fill the role of Assistant Project Director on Project Achieve, our program that has been fighting for the educational rights of students in New York City’s foster system for over 20 years. Many students in the foster system face tremendous barriers to educational success, due to frequent school changes, high rates of disability, and trauma associated with their foster care placement.

Project Achieve trains professionals, parents, and youth on the rights of students in foster care; secures services for students in foster care whose educational needs are not being met; and builds upon our on-the-ground experience to advocate for policy changes that will benefit all students in the City’s foster system.

The Assistant Project Director will partner with the project’s Director, Senior Education Specialist, and Staff Attorney to support all aspects of Project Achieve, including providing legal representation to individual students, consulting with foster care agency staff, delivering trainings, and engaging in policy advocacy at the state and local level. The Assistant Project Director will also work closely with New York City Public School’s Foster Care Office and representatives from the Administration for Children’s Services, the Bureau of Early Intervention, and other external stakeholders.

This position will report to the director of Project Achieve.

• Provides ongoing technical assistance to foster care agency staff.
• Develops and maintains resources, materials, and directories to support education advocacy for students impacted by the foster system.
• Conducts trainings for youth and families impacted by the foster system and the professionals who support them, including Education Specialists, Coaches, caseworkers, educators, service coordinators, legal advocates, and others.
• Advocates on behalf of students and families experiencing school-related difficulties involving special education, school discipline, enrollment, transportation, and other issues.
• Represents students at IEP meetings, suspension hearings, Manifestation Determination Reviews, special education hearings, mediations, and appeals.
• Leads aspects of Project Achieve’s policy advocacy to improve the educational experiences of youth in the foster system, including organizing allies, drafting public comments, meeting with public officials, speaking with the press on behalf…