Young people play an important role in shaping our society and contributing to their families, their communities, and our collective future. Policies that promote their health, wellbeing, and stability can help ensure young people are able to pursue and achieve their goals and set us all up for success. Unfortunately, in a step backward last year, the budget reconciliation bill added significant hurdles for young people accessing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), our nation’s single most important anti-hunger program which helps millions of individuals and families buy groceries every month. As states look to implement the law, it is critical they look for opportunities to help young people access SNAP—particularly young people who have experienced the greatest systemic barriers.
Young adults have high rates of food insecurity, and not knowing where their next meal will come from is especially common among those who have experienced foster care or been involved in the juvenile justice system. One longitudinal survey found that 30 percent of young people in foster care were food insecure at ages 19, 21, and 23. Meanwhile, many young people who are eligible for SNAP do not access it. A survey of young people in California’s Transitional Housing Placement-Plus program, which serves former foster youth and out-of-home probation youth, found that just 23 percent of youth were receiving SNAP at program exit, despite at least 50 percent of non-parents and at least 67 percent of parents being eligible.
For young people aging out of care, SNAP benefits act as a buffer against the economic and health impacts of food insecurity, allowing youth who have experienced foster care to afford groceries so they can prepare nutritious meals and grow into healthy adults able to pursue their goals.
Recognizing the compounding challenges young people aging out of care face, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 included important provisions to increase access to SNAP, exempting youth aging out of foster care from time limits and work requirements in SNAP. Subsequent United States Department of Agriculture implementation guidance to states also included support to ensure implementation of protections for youth to access the benefit. This policy solution increased access to food for young people.