Housing, health coverage, food, documents, college money and help with foster-care concerns. Find practical next steps and official application or contact information. These guides are free to read without an account; agencies set application requirements and any document-replacement fees.
Housing
Read the FYI voucher eligibility and rent guidance, follow the contact steps, and search by ZIP code for verified housing offices. A voucher helps cover rent; you may still pay part of it. Local agencies determine eligibility and availability.
Read the voucher guide and find housing officesHousing emergency
Find immediate crisis contacts, shelter resources and local help. Emergency help is not limited to former foster youth; each provider sets its own access rules. Call 911 if you are in immediate danger.
Find crisis and emergency housing helpHealth care
Choose your state to check former-foster-youth health coverage rules and reach the official application. Foster-care and Medicaid history matter; your state agency confirms eligibility, including if you moved states.
Check your state’s health coverageFood
Use USDA’s state directory to find your local SNAP office, application and contact information. Each state handles its own applications and eligibility decisions; benefits are not automatic because you were in foster care.
Find your state’s SNAP applicationDocuments
USA.gov explains which agency to contact for each missing document: your birth state’s vital records office, Social Security, or your state motor vehicle agency. Replacing a Social Security card is free; never pay a website to do it. Follow the issuing agency’s instructions for identity proof, fees and replacement options.
Read official document-replacement instructionsCollege & training
The Education and Training Voucher helps eligible current and former foster youth pay for college, trade or vocational programs. Read the U.S. Children’s Bureau’s explanation of funding, eligibility and how to ask your local child welfare agency about applying. State requirements vary.
Applications, the FAFSA, ETV money, tuition waivers and deadlines — in order, with the foster-youth rules that work in your favor.
Browse scholarships for current and former foster youth.
Your rights
Rights and complaint procedures depend on your state or jurisdiction. Read the steps for reporting unsafe or unfair treatment, keeping records and contacting verified state ombudsman or complaint offices. Ask your lawyer or state agency about the rights that apply to your situation.
Read the steps and find a complaint officeWords to know
Plain-language meanings of words you'll hear, like case plan, CASA, Chafee and Independent Living Program.
Open the glossaryIndependent living
Housing, school, work, money skills and other support your state's Chafee or Independent Living program may offer.
Read the Chafee guideSchool and career
A free U.S. Department of Education toolkit, published in 2016, with checklists for planning school, training, work and housing as you leave foster care. Some programs it names may have changed, so check each one directly.
Open the Department of Education pageNeed help near you? Search by ZIP code. In danger right now? Get crisis help, call 911, or call or text 988.