For foster youth in New York City, getting to school is not as simple as catching a bus. When a school bus NY system fails to show up on time (or even at all) a child already dealing with one of the hardest situations they can face loses something else: another day of class, another week of learning, an opportunity to keep up with their peers, and another connection to a teacher who might be the most stable adult in their life.
A new report from Advocates for Children of New York points to a clear and fixable cause: when young people in foster care move to a new home, reliable school transportation often does not follow them. And new research from across the rest of New York State shows this is not just a New York City problem.
What the New Report Found
Advocates for Children of New York analyzed data from New York City Public Schools for the 2024-25 school year. The findings are serious:
- 55% of foster youth in New York City were chronically absent from school last year.
- Nearly 12% missed more than half the school year entirely.
- By comparison, only 35% of students outside the foster care system were chronically absent.
One of the main reasons for this was unreliable school bus service. When foster youth move to a new placement mid-year—which happens an average of three times a year for most foster youth—it can take weeks or even months before school bus transportation is set up for them. Foster parents who work full-time or have children in different neighborhoods may not be able to drive them or ride along on a rideshare. The result is that many of these children simply do not make it to school.
Federal law requires New York City to provide transportation for foster youth. But the report authors called the delays a longstanding failure of city officials. As Advocates for Children Executive Director Maria Odom put it: school can be a safe haven for students in foster care at a moment of enormous stress, but only if they have a way to get there.
At the start of the 2025-26 school year, families continued to report extreme delays, no-shows, and commutes of an hour or more each way. One family reported a child with a disability spending well over 3 hours on a bus each day to travel to a school 7 miles from home.
The Problem Goes Beyond New York City
A separate first-of-its-kind report from The Century Foundation, released in June 2026, found that the same struggles facing foster youth in New York City are showing up across the rest of the state. The report looked at students in foster care in New York’s four largest school districts outside the city, known as the Big 4: Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers, along with the counties surrounding them.
The numbers are stark: students in foster care in Buffalo Public Schools had the lowest attendance rate of any group studied, missing an average of 41 school days a year, or about one day out of every five. Black students in foster care in Buffalo had it even worse, missing 47 days a year, more than one out of every four school days.
The report also found that students in foster care were suspended far more often than their classmates. In some counties, as many as 1 in 7 students in foster care received an in-school suspension in a typical year. Out-of-school suspension rates were even higher, reaching one in four students in Buffalo and climbing to one in three among Black students in foster care there.
Across every region studied, Black and Hispanic students in foster care faced the steepest disparities of all, in both attendance and discipline. Together, the New York City findings and the Big 4 findings tell the same story from two different angles: students in foster care across New York State are losing instructional time, losing connections to peers and supportive adults, and losing chances to succeed, not because of anything lacking in them, but because the systems meant to support them are falling short.
Why Missing School Matters So Much for Foster Youth
There are approximately 20,000 young people in New York State living in foster care. About 62% of them live in New York City. By age 21, they will be on their own.
According to the New York City Administration for Children Services FY 2025 Youth Experience Survey, 46% of foster youth in New York City identify as Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish origin, and 63% identify as Black, African American, or African. These young people are navigating the foster care system while trying to go to school, build friendships, and figure out who they are.
Foster youth in New York City are significantly more likely to experience trauma, housing instability, and mental health challenges compared to their peers. Nearly one in three young people aging out of the city foster care system remains in foster care or a group home because they are unable to find housing.
For any student, missing school has consequences. For foster youth, those consequences are compounded by everything else they are already navigating.
Every Change Results in 4-6 Months of Educational Setback
Research shows that students lose 4 to 6 months of academic progress each time they change schools. Experiences like removal from home or changes in foster care placements often cause trauma that affects a child’s mental, emotional, and physical health, and that directly affects their ability to learn.
A 2025 study found that 95% of foster youth experience at least one unscheduled school change per year. These changes often lead to gaps in learning, emotional distress, and social isolation.
The graduation numbers reflect this. In New York City, only one in four foster youth graduated on time as recently as 2019. That number has improved, climbing to 40% last year — real progress — but it still falls far short of what these young people deserve. And the data from NYC shows that among foster youth who changed schools mid-year, only 28% graduated on time.
Nationally, the picture is no better. A comprehensive review by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that foster youth complete high school at rates of 69% to 85%, compared to 95% of young people overall. Only 8% to 12% earn a two- or four-year degree by their mid- to late 20s.
Missing School Affects Success in the Long Run
Nationally, a 2025 systematic review found:
- High school gradÂuÂaÂtion: 69%–85% comÂplete high school or earn their GED comÂpared to 95% of general youth overall.
- PostÂsecÂondary eduÂcaÂtion enrollÂment: 29%–64% enroll in colÂlege or postÂsecÂondary school programs.
- ColÂlege graduation rates: 8%–12% earn a two- or four-year degree by their mid- to late 20s compared to 49% of young adults in general.
Education is one of the most direct paths out of the cycle of instability that too many foster youth face. Data shows that young people who demonstrate readiness indicators — a high school diploma or GED, combined with being enrolled in school or employed at age 21 — are less likely to experience homelessness than those without these indicators. Getting to school matters. Getting there reliably matters even more.
What Needs to Change for Foster Youth in New York City
The good news is that this problem is fixable. Advocates are calling on city officials to invest $3 million to provide transit for foster youth while they wait for bus service to be arranged. In April, more than two dozen organizations sent a letter to Mayor Mamdani calling for that funding to be included in the upcoming city budget. The money would cover rideshare services using background-checked drivers and deploy more city-owned vehicles as a temporary bridge while bus service is set up.
New York City Public Schools has acknowledged that housing changes and transportation issues create significant barriers for students in foster care. The department pointed to recent steps including increased rideshare funding and updated guidance expanding transportation options to include chaperoned vehicles.
Progress is happening. But advocates say it is not fast enough.
Students in foster care in New York City have the right to transportation to and from school either by student OMNY card or by school bus. If busing is not available within 10 business days of a placement change, alternative transportation may be available. The right exists. The system just needs to honor it consistently.
Here’s what else can help:
- Better training for child welfare caseworkers on how to support school attendance and advocate against unnecessary suspensions.
- Closer coordination between schools and local child welfare agencies.
- Regular public reporting on how foster youth are doing in school, so problems can be caught early.
How You Can Help Foster Youth Succeed in School
Foster youth in New York City, and across the state, do not need more reports telling us what is already painfully clear. Having countless amounts of evidence does not correct the problem if it is not used to find a solution.
There are real ways to act on it. You can contact your city council member or the Mayor’s office to support funding for foster youth transportation. You can volunteer as a tutor or mentor through organizations like Advocates for Children of New York or a local foster care agency. You can become a foster parent or respite caregiver, easing the placement instability that disrupts school in the first place.
Foster Love tries to be part of a tangible solution. Our scholarship programs help former foster youth pursue college and career training that many could not otherwise afford, and our STEM boxes bring hands-on learning directly to younger students still navigating elementary school.
Neither fixes a broken bus route. But both mean that when a foster youth finally makes it through the door, something is there to remind them someone believes they can succeed.
HELP FOSTER YOUTH SUCCEED IN SCHOOL