Urgency to Act: Unlocking Foster Youth Wellbeing

Urgency to Act Campaign

Join the movement to unlock foster youth wellbeing and can the button please say: Learn more. Take action

Join the movement to unlock foster youth wellbeing

Learn more. Take action.

Join the Movement to Lift Up Foster Youth Voices

At the National Foster Youth Institute (NFYI), we believe every young adult leaving foster care deserves a supportive, equitable environment that prioritizes their fundamental needs and empowers them to thrive. Too often, though, many begin their adult lives without resources, preparation, or guidance. Take housing — a basic human right that impacts every other aspect of our lives. Every month in Los Angeles County, 100 youth age out of foster care — and 23 of them immediately experience homelessness. We want that number to be zero within three years. Through targeted policy recommendations, leveraging personal stories, and mobilizing communities, we can make this vision a reality everywhere. Together, we can enact solutions that can be replicated nationwide to ensure every foster youth has the opportunity to thrive. 

Our campaign, Urgency to Act: Unlocking Foster Youth Wellbeing, is your opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of foster youth in Los Angeles and across the nation.

Take Action Today

Be Part of the Solution. Your voice, time, and resources can help create lasting change for foster youth. Sign up now to volunteer to support one or more of our six campaign pillars.
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Be part of the movement

What Is the Campaign About?

Foster youth face significant challenges, from housing instability to limited access to mental health resources, and from substance abuse risks to systemic barriers that limit social and economic mobility. These issues demand urgent action. Through this campaign, NFYI is educating policymakers, advocating for critical reforms, and implementing solutions.

Campaign Pillars

Our campaign focuses on six key areas to address the most pressing issues impacting foster youth. While just about every issue is a child welfare issue, NFYI worked with hundreds of current and former foster youth across the country to identify the areas with the most urgent need for support.
    1. Fostering Secure Housing
      Advocating for stable, long-term housing solutions to ensure foster youth transition successfully into adulthood.
    2. Fostering Family Preservation
      Providing resources to strengthen families and keep children safely at home whenever possible.
    3. Fostering Health and Wellness
      Expanding access to mental health services, trauma-informed care, and holistic wellness programs.
    4. Fostering Prevention of Prison Pipelines
      Tackling systemic barriers and reducing the overrepresentation of foster youth in the juvenile justice system.
    5. Fostering Substance Use Prevention
      Promoting harm reduction, intervention strategies, and recovery support tailored for foster youth.
    6. Fostering Pathways to Social and Economic Mobility
      Empowering foster youth with education, employment opportunities, and life skills.

Why the Urgency to Act NOW?

The challenges faced by foster youth are urgent and complex, but solutions exist. With your help, we can:
Provide leadership development opportunities for current and former foster youth that will empower them to change their lives and their communities.
Push for policy changes at the federal, state, and local levels.
Come together to amplify the voices of those with lived experience in foster care.
We believe that not one more former foster youth should become homeless; that no foster youth should suffer from untreated mental illness due to inadequate insurance; that being placed in foster care shouldn’t be an automatic prison sentence. If you believe that too, sign up to join us today and we’ll be in touch about how you can make a difference.
Sign up here

Amplify Our Message

All signed up and ready to act right away? You can amplify the impact of this campaign by sharing it on social media. Use #UrgencyToAct and tag NFYI (@NFYInstitute) to help spread the word.