Requesting DOE Busing

Foster care agency staff must plan for educational stability immediately upon the foster care placement of a school-aged child.

Arranging and funding transportation to and from the child’s school of origin is an essential first step in this process.

In order to enhance school stability under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the NYC Department of Education (DOE) has introduced a new protocol for providing busing to students in foster care. Under this arrangement, DOE will check existing special education or homeless student routes in order to add students in foster care to available routes.

Obtaining DOE Busing

• As always, agencies should first contact the school’s pupil accounting secretary immediately after a student enters foster care or moves to a new foster home to ensure that the school updates the student’s address in ATS. 
• Download the Foster Care Placement letter that notifies the school of the child’s foster care placement. If the address is not updated in ATS, the student cannot be routed/re-routed.

2. If a student requires new general education busing, the agency staff member must submit the newly revised DOE emergency evaluation form in conjunction with the foster care placement letter. Download the evaluation form and complete.

• Please note: there is now a box in Section 2 of the form for you to check: “Pupil is currently in foster care or awaiting foster care placement.”
• When it is complete, submit a copy of the form to the school AND email a copy to the NYC DOE Office of Pupil Transportation: OPTEmergencyTransportationRequests@schools.nyc.gov with “Foster Care Transportation” as the subject line, and copy The ACS Office of Educational Support & Policy at Education.unit@acs.nyc.gov  

3. If the student requires a re-route to existing special education transportation, the emergency evaluation form is NOT necessary.  Schools just need to update the address and make the request for transportation as they normally do.