(CNN) New York City education officials are notifying thousands of former students, staff and teachers that they might be eligible for free health care or compensation through federal programs because of their exposure to the ground zero site at the time of the attack.

Officials from the Department of Education (DOE) and United Federation of Teachers (UFT) are partnering to urge thousands of former students, staff and teachers to apply for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and World Trade Center Health program, and to inform them of the health risks associated with exposure.

Letters from the DOE are being mailed this week to anyone who was a New York city public school student enrolled near the World Trade Center on or after September 11, 2001, a DOE spokeswoman told CNN.

The DOE will send letters to the last known addresses of 19,000 former students who were enrolled south of Houston Street at the time, according to the spokesperson.

The United Federation of Teachers, the union that represents educators in the NYC public schools, has already began doing outreach to its roughly 3,000 members who taught and worked in the same schools, UFT spokeswoman Alison Gendar said.

Read More