Giving Compass' Take:

• In this story from Chalkbeat, author Reema Amin discusses New York education officials' increased focus on foster youth, questioning whether it goes far enough.

• What metric could impact investors and philanthropists use to decide how much focus on foster youth in the education system is "far enough"?

• To learn more about the education of students in foster care, click here.

A year after a city task force laid out an ambitious action plan for better serving children in foster care, city education officials promised to ensure more students in foster care are using academic enrichment and mentoring programs.

But that effort — largely building on what already exists — still falls short of what advocates and elected officials want in a new push to support those students.

“It’s good that someone is thinking about how to connect kids in foster care to existing DOE programs, but we think that more is needed,” said Randi Levine, policy director at advocacy group Advocates For Children New York.

Last March, the Interagency Task Force on Foster Youth outlined specific ways that city agencies could improve the lives of the estimated 6,000 New York City students navigating the foster care system. The task force recommended education officials explore employing guidance counselors dedicated to students in foster care, as well as finding ways to provide tutoring and social-emotional supports for middle-schoolers. Additionally, it identified ways to improve services and “regulatory oversight” of foster care students.

[Recently], 120 people rallied on the steps of City Hall, focusing on creating a comprehensive coaching program for students from middle school through age 26. They argued that this sort of program would help create a source of stability and help for students who need it the most.

About 80 child welfare agencies, non-profit groups, large foundations and a youth advisory group have formed the Fair Futures coalition, which wants the city to dedicate dollars annually to a coaching program. The coalition also has the support of Brooklyn Councilman Stephen Levin, who first introduced legislation in 2016 that created the Interagency Foster Care Task Force.

Read the full article about foster youth by Reema Amin at Chalkbeat