What is NYCPS Cares?
In the months after becoming the Chancellor of New York City Public Schools (NYCPS), Melissa Aviles-Ramos embarked on a Listening Tour across all five boroughs of New York City. The goal of the tour was to better understand local communities' needs and perspectives on important topics. The Listening Tour was part of a continuing effort to empower our school and local communities while fostering authentic two-way communication between students and families and the system that serves them.
As a direct result of this Listening Tour, a cross-functional and comprehensive report was created to document and highlight the most important topics for our families: ensuring safety and promoting wellness, empowering families and communities, and strengthening support for teachers and caregivers.
NYCPS Cares was created as an initiative to address these priorities through the implementation and expansion of pivotal, on-the-ground programs that provide direct, long-term supports for students and families.
Announced April 2025.
- A public awareness and collective action campaign centered around Anti-Bullying and Anti-Vaping.
- Launch of the Family Connectors program.
Expand the following programs within targeted districts and schools.
- Caring for the Caregivers
- Every Child and Family is Known (ECFIK)
- Mentorship Development
- Project PIVOT
This multi-pronged approach provides opportunities to identified districts and schools to choose from a program toolbelt to develop tailored and community-driven networks of support.
Program Goals
The promise of this program is to support our entire school community—that means our staff, families, and students. Our students cannot learn and our parents cannot engage with their child's education if they are concerned about safety, where they will get their next meal, or if they are housing insecure. We cannot have successful and thriving learning environments unless these needs are met. That is why we've identified districts with higher rates of need regarding homelessness, poverty, violence, chronic absenteeism, teacher turnover, and more to target as we begin to implement NYCPS Cares. The programs created through NYCPS Cares will add community resources where they are most needed, leverage the longstanding infrastructure of support we already have, and identify trusted partners in our communities and in our school buildings.
We care that our students, families, and staff can succeed and thrive together.
NYCPS Cares Program Toolbelt
Anti-Bullying and Anti-Vaping
Anti-Bullying and Anti-Vaping is a public awareness and collective action campaign focused on creating an environment in which all students are empowered to share their voices, access solutions, and champion healthy lifestyles for themselves and their peers.
Family Connectors
This citywide, interagency effort removes barriers to learning by connecting families with invaluable and vital resources. As "family connectors," community volunteers will be trained to serve as trusted messengers and ambassadors, bringing a holistic mindset to learning and student development.
Caring for the Caregivers
From teachers and parents to principals and superintendents, the leaders who look after our students are the backbone of our school communities, and we must ensure that they are supported every step of the way. This program offers resources to the adults that play pivotal roles in students' lives, by promoting their well-being and capacity through concrete support networks to take care of those giving so much to their students and community.
Every Child and Family is Known (ECFIK)
Every Child and Family is Known (ECFIK) is an interagency collaborative designed to support NYCPS students and their families residing in Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelters. This program helps schools connect every child and family in a DHS shelter to a school-based caring adult who checks in on them and their families to ensure that their academic, personal, and family needs are met.
Project PIVOT
Launched by OSPP in 2022, Project PIVOT provides supplemental funding to schools for the purpose of engaging community organizations to support its most vulnerable students during a pivotal point in their development. PIVOT is designed to ensure that students have access to additional resources to guide them towards academic and social-emotional success.
Schools identify services for students in one or more of the following areas:
- Safety and Violence Prevention and Intervention
- Leadership and Career Readiness
- Mentoring and/or Social-Emotional Supports
- Academic and Attendance Support
- Enrichment Activities (sports, recreational activities, and/or the arts)
- Health and Wellness
- Family Support Services
Program Implementation FAQ
Where are these initiatives being implemented?
Several geographic school districts were identified for program implementation:
- Manhattan: D4, D5
- Bronx: D7, D8, D9, D10, D12
- Brooklyn: D19, D23, D32
- Queens: D24
- Staten Island: D31
How were these districts identified?
Districts were identified using an evidence-based approach tailored to the most important topics mentioned throughout the Chancellor's Listening Tour. These variables include the number of students in temporary housing (STH), absenteeism rates, frequency of violent incidences, teacher turnover, and academic testing models. The NYCPS Cares Program Toolbelt is tailored to meet the needs of these communities, allowing the initiative to be monitored for long-term success and adjusted based on the results we're seeing on the ground.
Are these programs mandatory?
If the students are not receiving these types of supports, this will be mandatory. Caring for the Caregivers will be mandated in each identified school. Schools that are identified through our needs assessment will not be able to opt out of these programs. However, schools can opt out of specific initiatives if they are already providing services, and they are yielding positive results.