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Event / Action Date:Jul 27, 2026
HUD’s conversations with current and former foster youth revealed four significant obstacles that can prevent the Foster Youth to Independence program from delivering stable housing when young people need it most.
Participants described learning about the program too late, entering adulthood without basic financial knowledge, receiving guidance from professionals who could not relate to their experiences and struggling to locate landlords or cover move-in expenses.
The findings came from HUD-hosted roundtables in Denver, Pittsburgh and San Antonio. Each session included current and former foster youth, public housing agencies, child-welfare professionals, Chafee coordinators, federal officials and stakeholder organizations.
HUD’s report organizes the feedback into four areas:
Limited awareness of the FYI program;
Insufficient financial-literacy preparation;
Too few mentors with lived experience; and
Barriers to leasing and paying move-in expenses.
The most immediate problem identified during the roundtables was a lack of information.
Participating youth said they frequently did not know that FYI vouchers existed before turning 18. Those who did learn about the program sometimes heard about it from another young person already receiving assistance - not from the professionals responsible for helping them prepare to leave foster care.
During one discussion, HUD Secretary Scott Turner asked how many participants had learned about FYI or the Family Unification Program before turning 18. Only two people raised their hands.
That finding matters because FYI eligibility is time-limited. The program generally serves young adults who are at least 18 but have not reached their 25th birthday, have left foster care or will leave within the permitted referral period, and are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
A youth who discovers the program several years after leaving care may have already spent a significant portion of the eligibility window without assistance.
HUD’s report recommends giving young people more opportunities to learn about FYI before they leave foster care. One possibility would be HHS and the Administration for Children and Families encouraging Chafee coordinators to provide program information directly.
The report also suggests that HUD consider allowing earlier referrals so agencies can begin reaching young people years before they age out. Congress could separately consider stronger statutory requirements directing Chafee workers to inform eligible youth about the program.
These are recommendations, not currently adopted requirements.
Participants also described leaving foster care without a practical understanding of taxes, W-2 forms, FAFSA applications, credit or personal budgeting.
Several young adults said they had been expected to manage employment income, rental obligations and other adult responsibilities without the family support that commonly teaches these skills.
A voucher can help make monthly rent affordable, but it does not automatically prepare a young person to evaluate a lease, establish credit, create a household budget, complete tax forms or understand financial-aid requirements.
HUD’s report recommends considering financial-literacy training for caseworkers and Chafee workers. It also raises the possibility of requiring FYI referrals from public child-welfare agencies to confirm that a young person has received financial education.
The report suggests that PHAs could reinforce that preparation by informing FYI participants about available financial-literacy services while they receive rental assistance.
Congress could also consider making financial education a federally required component of transition planning for youth leaving foster care.
The roundtables also exposed a gap between professional knowledge and lived experience.
Young participants questioned whether professionals who entered child-welfare work directly from college or graduate programs always understood the trauma, instability and practical challenges experienced by youth in foster care.
Participants said PHAs and public child-welfare agencies could provide more effective support by employing people who had personally navigated foster care and the transition into independent adulthood.
A lived-experience professional could help a young person understand the voucher process, prepare for meetings, identify potential problems and advocate for assistance while providing mentorship grounded in firsthand experience.
HUD’s report recommends developing best-practice training on recruiting and preparing former foster youth for these positions. It also suggests that federal guidance encourage PHAs and child-welfare agencies to incorporate lived-experience professionals into FYI services.
HHS and ACF could consider recognizing these positions as an allowable use of Chafee funding. Congress could clarify that authority through legislation.
Even when a young person obtains an FYI voucher, successfully leasing a home can remain difficult.
Roundtable participants described landlords who were reluctant to rent to young adults or people with a history of child-welfare involvement. Youth may also lack conventional credit histories, prior landlord references and savings.
Deposits, application charges, utility expenses and other move-in costs can reach $1,500 or more. For someone leaving foster care without family assistance or accumulated savings, those expenses can prevent an otherwise successful voucher holder from signing a lease.
The report proposes several possible responses.
HUD could test or encourage landlord sign-on bonuses for owners who lease homes to FYI participants. Continued-participation incentives could also be considered when an owner rents to another FYI household after a previous participant moves.
Another proposal would create an FYI landlord coalition where owners, PHAs and policymakers could discuss program concerns and methods of increasing voucher acceptance.
HUD could also encourage owners to consider personal or professional references instead of relying exclusively on credit scores. Alternative screening can be particularly important for young adults who have not had enough time or financial access to establish conventional credit.
For move-in expenses, HHS and ACF could consider allowing Chafee funds to cover deposits and transitional-housing costs. Congress could amend the Chafee statute to make that authority explicit.
The Statement of Findings presents policy options for consideration by HUD, HHS, ACF and Congress. It does not itself create new mandates for PHAs, child-welfare agencies or property owners.
Implementing some proposals would require administrative guidance or a HUD pilot. Others may require congressional amendments to existing statutes.
Housing organizations should distinguish these recommendations from the operating changes HUD adopted through Notice PIH 2026-19.
That notice removed the annual cap on the number of FYI vouchers a PHA may request, subject to available funding. It also eliminated a utilization-threshold requirement that HUD concluded could delay access for eligible youth.
HUD now permits referrals for youth who will leave foster care within 180 days, expanding the previous 90-day period. The notice encourages PHAs to establish partnerships with child-welfare agencies and update their administrative plans before an eligible youth requires assistance.
Agencies do not need to wait for new federal requirements to address several of the problems identified during the roundtables.
PHAs and public child-welfare agencies can examine when young people first receive information about FYI and whether that information is delivered repeatedly in understandable language.
Partnering agencies can review their referral procedures, memoranda of understanding and administrative plans so eligible youth do not encounter avoidable delays.
Programs can also inventory their supportive services and identify gaps involving budgeting, taxes, credit, lease compliance, employment, education and move-in assistance.
PHAs can strengthen relationships with participating landlords, explain the protections and processes surrounding FYI vouchers and discuss reasonable screening alternatives for applicants who have limited rental or credit histories.
Finally, agencies can involve former foster youth in program design, staff training, outreach and mentorship. The roundtable findings demonstrate that lived experience is not merely personal testimony - it can provide operational knowledge that agencies may otherwise miss.
FYI vouchers can provide a critical bridge between foster care and independent housing, but the existence of a voucher program does not guarantee that an eligible young person will know about it, obtain timely assistance or successfully lease a home.
HUD’s roundtable findings show that housing stability depends on the entire path: early information, financial preparation, trusted guidance, landlord participation and help overcoming move-in costs.
A young person should not have to learn about FYI accidentally from a peer after leaving foster care. Nor should an approved voucher fail because the recipient cannot produce a conventional credit history or raise $1,500 for upfront expenses.
The report gives PHAs, child-welfare agencies and federal policymakers a practical framework for closing those gaps.
1. Check when young people first hear about FYI in your area and whether your referral process matches Notice PIH 2026-19, which allows referrals for youth who will leave foster care within 180 days.
2. Update your administrative plan and your agreements with the child welfare agency to match.
3. List the support your FYI participants lack, such as budgeting, taxes, credit, lease rules and move in costs, and who can provide it.
HUD's roundtables with current and former foster youth found four barriers to using Foster Youth to Independence vouchers: learning about the program too late, weak financial preparation, too few mentors with lived experience, and trouble leasing and paying move in costs. The report lists options for HUD, HHS and Congress. Those are recommendations, not requirements. The operating changes already in effect are in Notice PIH 2026-19.
Public housing agencies that administer FYI or FUP vouchers. Public child welfare agencies and Chafee coordinators. Young adults aged 18 to 24 who are leaving or have left foster care. Landlords who lease to voucher holders. HHS and its Administration for Children and Families.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development held roundtables in Denver, Pittsburgh, and San Antonio to gather feedback on improvements to the Melania Trump Foster Youth to Independence Program (FYI). Participants in each roundtable included 4–10 current and former foster youth, PHA and child welfare staff, Chafee coordinators, officials from the Administration for Children and Families (HHS/ACF), and representatives from stakeholder organizations such as the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare and Think of Us. The following report highlights the major themes identified during the roundtables and recommends policy solutions for federal agencies and Congress.
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