New Yorkers For Children was founded in 1996 as an independent nonprofit partner to the NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) to help meet the needs of youth in foster care that the system could not provide.

Conceptualized by the first Commissioner of ACS, Nicholas Scoppetta, NYFC continues to deliver on that mandate, enabling college access, supporting persistence through graduation, and providing emotional support and guidance for more than 1,000 youth in and aged out of foster care every year. Our direct service programs range from high-touch scholarships, to emergency cash assistance, to ensuring that any young person in foster care seeking higher education has the peer support and technology needed to succeed, with more than 15,000 laptops provided since our founding).

We have helped incubate vital new programs to improve the overall system, including increasing the success of adoptions and guardianship, coaching programs, and the next generation of nonprofits. We have succeeded in modeling a scholarship program that helps meet the full needs –financial and emotional –of the college and early-adult years… a model that has now been scaled systemwide with public resources.

Most crucially, we have and continue to be a tireless advocate and friend to every young person we serve. Our youth have described NYFC as the “missing puzzle piece” in the system, a safe space that fosters community and instills confidence in young adults to pursue autonomy.