When Jasmine Washburn entered foster care, college was not the obvious next step. Over seven years, she moved between foster homes, group homes, and residential treatment facilities, navigating the instability that many young people in foster care know all too well. Today Jasmine looks very different from the statistics often associated with foster youth. She is a junior at the University at Albany pursuing a double major in Psychology and English. She is also a content creator, founder and president of UAlbany’s Foster Club, and a member of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services Advisory Board. She is also a former Youth Advocate with the Fostering Youth Success Alliance, where she joined other young people in advocating for policies that improve outcomes for youth with foster care experience.
It would be easy to look at Jasmine’s accomplishments and tell a story about resilience. Foster youth are often asked to play that role. We celebrate the young people who overcome extraordinary odds while paying far less attention to the systems that created those odds in the first place.
The truth is that Jasmine’s success is not simply a story about perseverance. It is a story about support.
Across New York, young people aging out of foster care face barriers that most college students never have to consider. Many do not have a family home to return to during school breaks. They do not have parents who can co-sign an apartment lease, cover an unexpected expense, or provide a financial cushion during difficult times. Yet, they are expected to navigate higher education while simultaneously managing housing insecurity, financial hardship, and the lasting effects of trauma.
As such, although many foster youth aspire to attend college, only about 10 percent enroll, and just 3 percent graduate. These outcomes are not a reflection of ability or ambition. They are a reflection of what happens when young people are expected to succeed without the support systems that many of their peers rely upon.
Recognizing this reality, New York created the Fostering Youth College Success Initiative (FYCSI). FYCSI funding helps students access essentials such as housing, meals, personal hygiene products, and textbooks. Thanks to advocacy work done by organizations, such as the Fostering Youth Success Alliance, mental health and medical expenses are also be supported through the program, and youth can access this funding at any age.
For students like Jasmine, this support can make the difference between dropping out and graduating from college. It can create the conditions for young people like her to fully participate in campus life, discover their strengths, and envision futures that once felt out of reach.
These investments benefit more than individual students who receive support. When foster youth succeed in college, they become educators, advocates, social workers, business leaders, and public servants. They strengthen communities across New York. Jasmine’s journey from foster care to student leader and statewide advocate is proof of what becomes possible when young people are given the resources necessary to thrive.
Unfortunately, as more students access FYCSI, demand continues to outpace available funding. Rising housing and food costs have increased pressure on the program. New York now faces a choice: continue building on its success or allow financial constraints to limit opportunities for the very young people the program was designed to support. Understanding this reality, in partnership with Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest, we have been advocating for the state to invest $10 million in FYSCI to help ensure that more students are able to build the futures that benefit them and our state more broadly.
We write together, as a legislator and student advocate, because we believe both the personal stories and the policy realities of this program matter. The foster youth in our communities are resilient, determined, and deserve the opportunity to have a true higher education experience, but we need to help build their pathway to success.
