Ensuring Food Security for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care: The Crucial Role of SNAP

Young people leaving the foster care system are not strangers to hardship and instability. Because the state removed them from their families—and in some cases communities—they often do not have access to the same level of support and guidance from family that many other young people receive as they make their way into adulthood. Society’s failure to adequately support these young people is evident in the experiences of young people exiting foster care, including high rates of food insecurity. One study found that 78 percent of post-secondary students who had been in the foster care system experienced basic needs insecurity.

Critically important to supporting youth aging out of foster care is ensuring they have access to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 included important provisions exempting youth aging out of foster care from time limits and work requirements in SNAP. To ensure former foster youth and all young people receive the assistance they need, the time limits and work requirements in SNAP should be eliminated entirely.

As Congress considers taking food assistance away from individuals and families and expanding burdensome work requirements in SNAP, it is important to remember why Congress created these exemptions in the first place. As youth exit foster care, leaving the custody of the state and becoming responsible for supporting themselves, they need and are owed support in meeting their most basic needs, including food security. SNAP can provide a crucial support to young people.

To learn more about the benefits of SNAP for youth who have experienced foster care, read our brief: Supporting Youth Aging Out of Foster Care through SNAP.