Testimony to the New York City Council Higher Education and Children and Youth Committees - Oversight: Strengthening CUNY Pathways for Current Former Foster Youth
April 28, 2026
Good morning. My name is Ina Mendez, and I am the Deputy Commissioner for the Division of Family Permanency Services at the Administration for Children’s Services. I am pleased to be joined today by my colleague Sonia Gonzalez, the Executive Director of the Office of College Success Initiatives within my division, as well our colleagues from CUNY and a young person currently attending CUNY. Thank you to Chairs Stevens and Joseph, and the members of the Children and Families and Higher Education Committees for holding today’s oversight hearing on CUNY Pathways for Current and Former Foster Youth.
We appreciate the opportunity to share more information with you about the supports both ACS and CUNY provide to young people interested in pursuing two- or four- year college degrees. As you will see, for ACS youth who choose to go to CUNY schools, much of our work is collaborative, and we value our ongoing partnership. Our testimony today will focus on ACS’s College Choice program.
The success of youth in foster care is extremely important to us at ACS. This commitment to ensuring young people in our care are able to thrive led to the creation of Fair Futures, a first of its kind program providing over 4,000 young people in foster care and the juvenile justice system who are between the ages of 11 and 26 with tutoring and coaching—to build life skills, set academic and career goals, and provide ongoing support for youth. ACS has partnered with Chapin Hall to evaluate the implementation and outcomes of Fair Futures. Their December 2025 outcomes study report found that Fair Futures participants generally exhibited stronger persistence in school and higher graduation rates than comparable youth.
The success we are seeing with Fair Futures goes hand in hand with our commitment to ensure that if a young person in our care wants to pursue a college education, we will help that young person thrive. Today, over 471 youth are participating in College Choice, more than doubling the size of the program which served 200 when it began in October 2022, in FY 2023.
After hearing from young people that they wanted more choices about where they went to school and what type of housing they secured, and that they needed a stipend to be able to support themselves while focusing on their studies, College Choice was created - building off of our prior college initiatives, including the CUNY Dorm Project and the Fostering College Success Initiative.
College Choice was specifically designed for students in foster care interested in pursuing a two- or four-year college degree. The program includes funding for the following:
- Tuition: ACS will cover up to $15,000 a year towards tuition and mandatory fees that are not covered by the student’s financial aid award. We have found that this covers most if not all of the costs for youth as youth in care have access to several other college supports, including, Foster Youth College Success Initiative (FYCSI) which our CUNY colleagues will be discussing more fully, as well as the federal Chafee Education and Training Vouchers (ETVs) which has recently extended the program age limit so students may now qualify until their 26th birthday.
- Housing: ACS will cover up to $30,000 a year for housing. Youth are able to choose to live in on-campus housing, live in off campus private housing, live in their own apartment, or remain in their foster care placement. ACS, the youth’s foster care agency and New York Foundling work closely with each youth to help them decide and find their best option.
- Stipend/direct cash assistance: ACS provides the youth with $60 a day while the youth is in school each semester and summer session.
- Fair Futures coach: Youth can keep their Fair Futures coach until age 26.
- Support through NY Foundling: ACS recently completed an RFP process to contract with a provider to serve both as a fiscal conduit (to pay schools, landlords, etc.) and to coordinate academic advisement and other support services to ensure students who need extra support are able to remain on a path toward degree completion.
- Ongoing support: ACS provides year-round housing costs and the stipend for up to 6 months post-graduation, all of which helps youth graduating from college successfully transition to independence outside the college setting.
- Summer: ACS will continue to provide support for housing, tuition and stipends during the summer months for youth enrolled in summer courses, pursuant to their college dorm guidelines. About 60% of the youth in College Choice elect to continue the program during the summer.
College Choice has been very successful, and most importantly so have the youth participating. Each year we have seen more youth participate.Due to this success, as part of the FY2026 Budget, we received increased funding for College Support, which is funded at $15.7 million in FY26, and will be increased and baselined to $18.8 million starting in FY27.
Currently, 301 of the 471 youth (63%) attend CUNY. The remaining students attend a variety of other schools such as University of Albany, Penn State University, NYU, Morgan State University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Depauw University and this year we have a student attending Scotland Conservatory of Music.
ACS is committed to supporting youth complete their college credits. We offer youth 15 semesters of support, which is more than most financial aid packages will offer. We have found that our students typically earn their 4- year degrees in 5-5 ½ years. College Choice does require students to maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0, which aligns with college/university and financial aid eligibility standards. Our goal is to support youth during any challenges, so we work with each student individually, so that so long as the school will allow the student to remain enrolled, College Choice will continue to support the young person. For some students, the traditional college pathway is not the right fit, so we may connect them to alternative options, including our new Career Choice program, that provides vocational and job training assistance and other resources, like a stipend. Much like the national average, we find that approximately 30% of youth in College Choice do not persist in college.
By and large however, students in College Choice and CUNY’s program have been very successful. Let me tell you about a couple of those students.
We currently have a College Choice student who is on track to graduate this May with a Bachelor's of Science in Social Work from York College. LH’s progress reflects significant growth over time. She began the program during the pandemic while also adjusting to starting college, initially entering the program with a 1.2 GPA. Through consistent effort, engagement with tutoring, academic support, and active engagement in social emotional services, she raised her GPA to a 2.83 by the end of her Spring 2025 semester and remained on track ever since. Outside of school, she works at the Ali Forney Center, a 24-hour program that supports homeless LGBTQ+ and at-risk youth by providing shelter, food, and comprehensive services. In her role as a case worker, she continues to stay fully engaged in school while managing her professional responsibilities. She is also preparing to move into her own apartment in Brooklyn on May 1st.
Another student, S.M., attends Hostos Community College, majoring in Digital Music & Sound Design. He is a second-year student and an active member of the College Choice Support Services program. He is on track to earn his Associate’s Degree this May and plans to continue his education at City College. He is interested in pursuing study abroad opportunities to expand both his academic and personal experience. He currently holds a 2.8 GPA and is working very hard to end the school year with a 3.0. He was featured in the New York Foundling’s College Choice Support Services February 2026 Newsletter, and he left advice for his fellow students: “stay consistent, ask for help early, and remember that progress matters more than perfection.” We couldn’t agree more!
In conclusion, I want to thank the Council for your commitment to the success of the youth in ACS’s care, to thank CUNY and NY Foundling for their invaluable partnerships in making College Choice successful, and most of all to the youth who are working so hard to obtain their college degrees and build successful lives.