Council Member Joseph Questions College Enrollment and Career Re-Engagement for Foster Youth

We are continuing to expand Fair Futures.

Um, and it is in both on the juvenile justice side and on child welfare.

The budget action slows the growth, but the growth that by 20 by fiscal 2029 we achieved the same end number of 5400, which was the goal when we got to fiscal 2029.

If we feel that's not sufficient, obviously we can have conversations about where to go from there.

Okay, great.

And back to councilmember Joseph.

Thank you, real quick.

Um, two more questions.

Over the past five years, how many youth have aged out of foster care annually and what percentage of those youth are enrolled in college?

So I don't have the past five years.

I can give you um we had in council in calendar year 2024, 420 non permanency discharges.

So those are youth leaving foster care.

And in calendar 2025, we had 383.

So I'll have to get the other information and then also crosswalk that with our college choice data.

We do know that when College Choice launched in 2022, we had 200 young people, and I believe the fall the spring semester of 2026, we had 471 youth in college.

But I will have to crosswalk the exits with who was in college at the time.

No problem.

For foster youth with foster care, um, for students with foster care experience who did not complete college, what academic career re-engagement supports are available for them for re-enrolling or transition into employment pathways.

So for young people that are in college specifically, um, we work very closely with New York Foundling.

They do our college support services program, and they provide um in addition to supporting around the financial issues, the wraparound academic advisement.

So for those that are maybe struggling, let's say they're on probation, they're providing additional support.

If they do have to leave school, we still they still, if they're in care, still have their case planning team, they'll have their fair futures coach, and then we have our team at ACS.

So we do re work to re-engage.

There have been young people that have been in the college choice program, discontinued, and now are looking at our career choice program, which launched this fiscal year.

So maybe they're gonna take a different path.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chairs.

Okay, great.