Commentaries at the San Antonio Report provide space for our community to share perspectives and offer solutions to pressing local issues. The views expressed in this commentary belong to the author alone.
As Texans, we’re raised to “Remember the Alamo,” but the more urgent call today is to remember the young Americans who need us most, including our foster youth. May is National Foster Care Month, and as our nation approaches 250 years of independence, that conviction reflects a broader American promise: each generation should have the opportunity to build a better future for themselves and their posterity. But for the roughly 20,000 foster youth in the United Stateswho age out of care each year, that promise is far from guaranteed.
Across the country, nearly a quarter of these young adults who transition out of foster care will experience homelessness. Roughly 21% face substance abuse challenges, and many struggle to secure steady employment. Too often, they enter adulthood without what most Americans take for granted — stable housing, financial guidance, or a clear starting point.
Here in Texas, we see this reality up close. Each year, over a thousand young Texans leave the foster care system and step into adulthood on their own. For far too many, that is not a transition — it is a cliff. And it demands a response grounded in results.
At the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, we are proud to help support these individuals through the Melania Trump Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) initiative. This program connects young Americans transitioning out of foster care with housing assistance and supportive services so they can secure housing, employment, and stability in their life.
This effort is further reinforced by President Trump’s Executive Order, “Fostering the Future for American Children and Families,” which strengthens coordination between government, the private sector, and community organizations to support foster youth and ensure they can age out of care and into a life of self-sufficiency.
We are also guided by the leadership of First Lady Melania Trump, who worked with Congress to help secure $30 million to support foster youth and also helped expand access to educational opportunities through Fostering the Future, a BE BEST initiative.
I have seen firsthand how close these issues are to her heart. As the First Lady said before Congress, “In safeguarding our children’s well-being, we shape the integrity of our nation.”
These are not abstract commitments. Under President Trump’s leadership, we have supported more than 1,300 youth with approximately $18.4 million in FYI funding.
In Texas, HUD has awarded more than $7.5 million, investing in more than 750 youth since 2019. There are currently nearly 650 FYI awards in place through 31 public housing authorities, including 25 active vouchers through the San Antonio Housing Authority and 28 through the Bexar County Housing Authority. Behind each FYI voucher is an American working to sign a lease, earn a paycheck, and build a self-sufficient life with dignity and hope for the future.
Still, numbers alone do not tell the full story. To get this right, we must listen.
That is why we have brought these conversations directly to the communities themselves, so we can hear directly from those who need help the most. After hosting roundtables with youth who have foster care experience in Denver and Pittsburgh, San Antonio marked our third stop in this national effort. Across each region, one message has consistently rung clear: foster youth need greater access to financial literacy resources to help them understand key aspects of economic well-being, including saving, investing, credit management, and taxes.
In San Antonio, those realities came into sharper focus as we heard from those determined to build a better future for the next generation. We heard from a 23-year-old single mother of two who experienced homelessness after transitioning out of the foster care system. She shared her resolve to go to school and become a teacher to build a life grounded in dignity and ensure her kids achieve stability and success.
These conversations are shaping what comes next for the FYI program. The insights that are shared with us at these discussions are not just rhetoric, but practical recommendations to better align policy with real-world needs. My team and I take these forums as an opportunity to hear directly from those in need and take an honest look at where systems can improve.
For me, this mission is personal. I am a proud Texan, and I have seen what happens when people are given a strong foundation and the freedom to build on it. I have also seen what happens when the foundation is missing, and how easy it is for things to go awry. But in Texas, we do not turn away from challenges — we meet them-head on, and that is what we are doing around the table through these listening sessions and roundtables.
Our goal is simple. When these young Texans transitioning out of foster care step forward into adulthood, they should do so with confidence, with stability, and with the knowledge that their state and country stand behind them.
I am proud of the work we have done thus far, and I am encouraged by the young people whose lives have been changed for the better. I am grateful for the First Lady’s commitment to our nation’s youth. This administration’s work to uplift foster children will bear fruit for many generations to come.
