Young People Deserve More From the Budget: A Statement from our CARES Ambassadors

Washington, DC (July 28, 2025) – The CARES Ambassadors, young adults between the ages of 18 and 26 years old with experience in the foster care system, are appalled by the tax and budget bill signed into law by President Trump on July 4th. The CARES Ambassadors are working to reimagine how society supports young people and advance youth-centered policies that set all young people up to thrive. This bill moves in the wrong direction, stripping away essential supports like health coverage and food assistance from millions of young people, making higher education less affordable, increasing the costs of raising children for young parents, and limiting opportunity for all.  

This bill undermines health and wellbeing for an estimated 17 million people by slashing health coverage, including deep cuts to Medicaid. Access to health coverage and care is essential for young people to stay healthy and build a strong foundation for their futures—enabling us to pursue our education, careers, and personal goals. Yet this bill will lead to coverage losses due to sweeping and harmful policy changes that are designed to limit access to coverage and care, including burdensome Medicaid work reporting requirements for adults ages 19 to 64 that will cause many young adults to lose health insurance, changes to eligibility redetermination requirements that will make it harder for young people to maintain Medicaid coverage by requiring them to prove their eligibility1 every six months instead of annually, higher out-of-pocket costs for certain services2 that will force many young people to make tough choices between seeking care and meeting their basic needs like buying groceries or making a car payment, and more limited access to reproductive and preventive care as a result of defunding Planned Parenthood clinics that provide critical health care including cancer screenings, prenatal care, and contraception—particularly in rural and underserved areas.  

This bill dramatically cuts foundational supports for young people, including food assistance. It includes billions of dollars in cuts to SNAP, reducing or threating benefits for more than 22 million families. Among other provisions, the bill removes work requirement exemptions for youth aging out of foster care and those experiencing homelessness. These exemptions were critical to supporting young people during a key period of development and allowed them to prioritize their future and goals without fear of going hungry.  

This bill will also make it more difficult for young people to access and afford higher education, narrowing their options and rolling back critical protections for those harmed by predatory or failing institutions. It caps borrowing for two key federal loan programs—one for graduate students and one for parents—potentially preventing some students from enrolling and pushing others toward higher-cost private loans. The bill also delays implementation of Biden-era rules that offer loan relief to students defrauded by their schools or unable to complete their programs due to institutional closures. 

This bill leaves behind many young parents who are struggling with the costs of raising children. The Child Tax Credit (CTC) can provide economic relief to families, but under the bill 19 million children in families with the lowest incomes are excluded from the full CTC because their families’ earnings are too low. The bill also harms children in immigrant families, newly excluding 2.7 million U.S. citizen children by requiring that at least one parent have a Social Security number to claim the CTC. 

Young people are clear about the systemic barriers they face—and the policy solutions they need to achieve their goals and dreams. They want meaningful opportunities, including health care that is affordable, affirming, and includes supports for managing stress, anxiety, and other mental health needs; access to foundational supports like housing and food so they can pursue fulfilling jobs that pay a living wage, have predictable hours, and provide workplace protections; and access to higher education through federal grants and loans that are sufficient to cover real costs, with repayment plans that are fair and don’t lead to long-term debt. For young parents, this also includes access to a CTC that provides meaningful support, along with affordable and responsive child care.  

This budget fails to deliver on any of these priorities. It falls short on providing the opportunities young people need to be healthy, maximize their power and promise, and support their ability to achieve their goals and dreams.  Here’s what we’ve heard from our CARES Ambassadors:

“This bill really hits home for me. I know people who work hard every day, but their jobs don’t pay enough to cover rent, food, or health care. Programs like SNAP and Medicaid help fill that gap. If those are taken away, it’ll make life even harder – not because people aren’t working but because their jobs don’t pay enough to live. I’ve seen it myself, and I know it would hurt people I care about, including youth like me. I grew up on SNAP, but to see how much this is changing for families that need it, especially when there are limited options for families. What are they going to do for the summer when children and families rely on the support?” – Jamie, a CARES Ambassador from Atlanta, GA

“They’re taking away Medicaid and SNAP. I still receive SNAP…you know my baby’s covered under Medicaid… So that’s concerning and alarming. And it just makes me wonder what the future holds for this next generation.” – S.A., a CARES Ambassador from Los Angeles, CA

“Young adults and students (including me) will have to face reduced student aid, less loan forgiveness to make college affordable.” – Tiffany, a CARES Ambassador from Atlanta, GA

“Even when the cost of food is going up – literally – they are setting us up for failure.” – Gwen, a CARES Ambassador from New York City

“A lot of the things that are gonna be taken away, are very much foundational things that we need, as human beings, honestly to survive…I think also, too, in the space that we’re in, it does make it hard, in the sense of, when you’re trying to progress forward and push these things that are important to you, and then to see someone come behind you and say no, we’re not having that. It’s like when you try to take like two steps forward and something is knocking you back…”  – Brana, a CARES Ambassador from Los Angeles, CA

For more on policies that support—rather than hinder—the ability of young people to access health coverage, care, and other supports they need to be healthy, happy, and well, see our  CARES Policy Agenda. 

About CARES 

In 2021, CSSP launched CARES (Creating Actionable and Real Solutions), bringing together 27 young adults between the ages of 18 and 26 years old with experience in the foster care system to reimagine how society supports young people and advance youth-centered policies. These 27 CARES Ambassadors have worked to identify the greatest barriers to their success and co-develop policy recommendations that would break down these barriers and set all young people up to thrive. 

2024 Capitol Hill Policy Briefing: Queer and Vulnerable

Danie Guzman joined the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 2024 Capitol Hill Policy Briefing—Queer and Vulnerable, alongside Shadi Houshyar, CSSP, and Currey Cook, Lambda Legal. They discussed opportunities to support and affirm LGBTQ+ young people in foster care.

Opportunities to Create Affirming and Supportive Communities for LGBTQ+ Young People

All young people belong to families and communities and deserve our collective love and support. Young people want to be seen for their “whole selves”—that is, in the full beauty and complexity of who they are. They deserve to feel encouraged, affirmed, and supported as they make their way in the world. In the end, all young people deserve to be healthy, happy, and loved. Systems, policies, and communities each play an important role in affirming young people and celebrating their whole identity—including their race, ethnicity, language, culture, history, and sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE).

On Monday, April 15, the Center for the Study of Social Policy joined the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) for a panel discussion on Queer and Vulnerable: Identifying the Challenges of LGBTQ+ Youth in Foster Care. Shadi Houshyar, CSSP Senior Associate, was joined by Danie Guzman, Los Angeles Ambassador for CARES to discuss opportunities to support and affirm LGBTQ+ young people in foster care. Joining them on the panel was Currey Cook, Senior Counsel and Youth In Out-Of-Home Care Project Director at Lambda Legal.

We know that children and youth do best when they are able to remain in their homes and communities. And when families do become known to the child welfare system, it is the system’s responsibility to partner with families in ways that promote autonomy and provide supports and resources that keep families together. 

For LGBTQ+ youth and their families, this requires having a system, including staff, that engage youth and families with dignity and are affirming and responsive to their needs, as well as partnerships with a broader network of community-based supports that can meet families’ needs—for example, community-based organizations like the Ruth Ellis Center in Detroit, and Family Builders in California, that provide supports to young people and families. 

“At CSSP, through our getREAL (Recognize. Engage. Affirm. Love.) Initiative, we have worked with child welfare agencies to ensure that attention is paid to planning for the healthy sexual and identity development of all children and youth with a focus on LGBTQ+ youth,” said Shadi Houshyar. “Our efforts focus on ensuring that all young people are valued and affirmed to embrace their authentic selves in all aspects of their identity including SOGIE through system and policy reform. What we learned in this work is that we have to focus on affirming and celebrating the whole identity of youth. When we fail to do this, youth are undermined and unsafe in revealing their whole identity and systems who think they are ‘helping’ only further traumatize children and young people.”

For youth who enter foster care, the child welfare system has to do better. To ensure that all children and youth, including those who identify as LGBTQ+, are able thrive in foster care, child welfare systems must ensure that all foster parents are able to meet the needs of any child or youth who enters their home. The needs of children in care, like all children, are complex, not always known when they first enter care, and understandably change as they grow and develop. Children do have universal needs that systems and all foster parents must be equipped to meet, including supporting healthy identity development as they grow. 

“A well-trained and supportive foster parent serves as a cornerstone for the positive development of LGBTQ+ youth, fostering resilience, self-acceptance, and empowerment. This support not only enhances their emotional well-being but also contributes to their academic and social success, laying the groundwork for a brighter future,” said Danie Guzman. 

Policymakers also have real opportunities to promote collaboration across child welfare, health, mental health, education, housing and other systems and to improve outcomes for youth through collaborative and integrated approaches that value and affirm young people, families, and communities.

All young people who identify as LGBTQ+ deserve access to spaces—like homes, schools, workplaces, or community centers—relationships with family and friends, and systems and policies that positively affirm their identity. When young people experience accepting communities, have access to affirming spaces, and are supported, they thrive. 

Belonging and feeling valued and connected to community is important to the health and well-being of young people. It allows young people to experience a solid foundation from which to set goals, and lead fulfilling and joyful lives.

 

About CSSP. The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) works to achieve a racially, economically, and socially just society in which all children, youth, and families thrive. We translate ideas into action, promote public policies grounded in equity, and support strong and inclusive communities. We advocate with and for all children, youth, and families marginalized by public policies and institutional practices. Learn more at www.CSSP.org.

About CARES. In 2021, the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) launched CARES: Creating Actionable and Real Solutions funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Using an actively anti-racist frame, the aim of this work is to drastically change the systemic challenges that youth—specifically older or “transition-age” youth of color—who are or have been involved with the foster care system experience. This work is being co-designed and co-created with three cohorts of Ambassadors—youth with lived experience in the foster care system who have transitioned out of the system located in three key cities: New York, NY; Atlanta, GA; and Los Angeles, CA. Learn more about CARES here: www.CARES4Power.org.

Pathways to Independence — Supporting Youth Aging Out of Foster Care

This month, the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) and Creating Real and Actionable Solutions (CARES), a CSSP initiative funded by the Conrad Hilton Foundation, submitted written testimony that addresses strategies to better support youth aging out of foster care to the Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Work and Welfare. Young people play an important role in shaping our society and contributing to their families, their communities, and the broader economy. Their ability to fulfill their hopes and aspirations will ultimately determine our collective future. As one youth who was interviewed as part of the CARES community analysis shared:

“I can be something great, no matter what my background [is], no matter what foster care was, because at the end of the day, it’s not foster care that defines me.”

Young people deserve opportunities that promote their health and well-being, maximize their power and promise, and support their ability to achieve their goals and dreams. Investments in community-based supports are indispensable to fulfilling this vision. Upstream investments in programs like Title IV-B of the Social Security Act (Title IV-B) provide systems and communities the opportunity and ability to be more responsive to and supportive of youth and their expressed needs while also preventing costly and harmful deeper-end system involvement.

Read the full post on Medium.