NYFC Announces Partnership with YouthNPower

NYFC is honored to be a part of YouthNPower: Transforming Care, a collaboration between the Children’s Defense Fund-New York, the CUNY Graduate Center’s Public Science Project, the Center for the Study of Social Policy, and New Yorkers For Children. It is a collective made up of researchers, organizers, advocates, and artists with both professional and lived experience in the child welfare system advocating for the needs and visions of young adults transitioning out of foster care in New York City.

YouthNPower’s collective work includes five key components. First, a Participatory Action Research (PAR) inquiry led by young people who have experienced New York City’s child welfare system. Gathering personal experience provides insight on how individuals navigate aging-out of foster care, and necessary improvements to better support those who are transitioning to their next phase in life. The Direct Cash Transfer Pilot provides unconditional cash support to youth between the ages of 18 and 22 who aged-out of foster care. Participants will receive $1000 per month for 12 months. The PAR inquiry and an independent evaluation will examine the impacts of the direct cash transfer pilot through both qualitative and quantitative methods to highlight young people’s visions for self-determination, community connectedness, care, independence, and family, as well as their perspectives on and experiences with unconditional economic support. Through YouthNPower, young people with lived experience are using their own experiences and the knowledge we produce to influence public policy decisions and advocate for a youth-led agenda for justice in child welfare. The collective is committed to working in community with policymakers, community leaders, and other young people across New York City to transform care.

NYFC’s involvement in YouthNPower furthers our commitment to providing cash support to youth in and aging out of foster care. Through our Emergency Grants program, we provide cash transfers to youth to help pay for necessities such as utility bills, medical bills, groceries, and more. At the onset of COVID-19 we were able to expand this program and provide over $1.8 million in cash support to youth in NYC. We hope with the work that is being done in the Direct Cash Transfer Pilot that more unconditional cash support models will be implemented both locally and nationwide, and lead to more conversations surrounding Universal Basic Income. To learn more about our programs and the other types of cash and holistic support we provide, follow the link here!