ACCESS NYC

Find help in NYC with food, money, housing, work and more on ACCESS NYC. There are over 30 programs you or your family may be eligible for regardless of immigration status and even if you’re already receiving benefits or have a job.

Coming Home: Transitioning Back Into the Community - A Resources Directory

A New York City resource directory for court-involved youth leaving detention and returning to the community. The goal of this publication is to provide resources for young people in order to create working, engaged and responsible adults who can contribute to the community.

Disability Provider Directory

The NYS Office For People With Developmental Disabilities and its associated voluntary agencies offer many services to individuals and their families. This interactive directory lists services by service type and location.

Disability.Gov

Disability.gov is the federal government website for comprehensive information about disability-related programs, services, policies, laws and regulations. The site links to thousands of resources from many different federal government agencies, as well as state and local governments and nonprofit organizations across the country.

Every day, new resources are added to Disability.gov’s 10 main subject areas: Benefits, Civil Rights, Community Life, Education, Emergency Preparedness, Employment, Health, Housing, Technology and Transportation. You’ll find information on topics such as Social Security disability benefits, job accommodations for employees with disabilities, accessible housing, and organizations in your state that can help you find a job or live independently.

Please keep in mind that Disability.gov is an “information and referral” website, which means almost every time you select a resource, you will go to another website. For example, a resource about Social Security disability benefits may direct you to  Social Security Administration (www.ssa.gov). Disability.gov is not responsible for the maintenance, accuracy or accessibility of information on these websites.

Emergency Resource Guide - DSS

This Emergency Resource Guide provides descriptions of the many services offered by the County Department of Social Services, as well as 24 Hour emergency resource information. Although this guide was developed by Albany County, it contains mostly statewide emergency resource information.

Employment - A Guide for Transition Services

Most young people rely on caring adults to support them with guidance, housing and financial assistance, and ongoing emotional connections. Young people from foster care often miss out on these supports traditionally provided by families. They may also have added challenges due to earlier abuse, neglect, and separation. 

It’s My Life: Employment Guide offers specific strategies, tactics, and resources for youth and the adults who guide and support these youth to help them gain employment.

Extending Foster Care Beyond 18 - Housing Options for Young Adults

This  issue  brief  details  the  array  of  housing  options  that  states  can  consider  as  they  plan  to  extend  foster  care beyond  the  age  of  18. Designed  well,  housing  options  can  support  the  development  of  permanent  relationships with caring adults and provide opportunities for acquiring life skills, advanced education, and employment opportunities. Effective housing options can also provide important incentives for young people to choose to remain in care.

Find and Keep Housing for Transitional Age and Former Foster Youth

This Honoring Emancipated Youth Housing Guide provides practical advice on how to find and keep housing for transitional age and former foster youth. The guide was written by former foster youth, volunteers and community members. This guide is dedicated to housing and is a valuable resource to any young person, but especially former foster youth and disconnected transitional aged youth. This guide strives to provide guidance to youth ages 18-24 to procure safe and affordable housing.

Note: This guide was written for California youth, but was included here because of the valuable information contained within.

Foster Care Transition Tool Kit

This toolkit is intended to help youth currently in foster care and young adults formerly in foster care access the information and resources needed to begin their transition to young adulthood. The toolkit includes tips and resources to help youth and young adults tackle social, emotional, educational, skills and resource barriers. The toolkit can be also a resource for kinship guardians, foster and adoptive parents, relative caregivers, as well as social workers, teachers, and counselors.

Foster Club's Transition Toolkit

The FosterClub Transition Toolkit can help foster youth and the adults supporting them develop a comprehensive transition plan. This Transition Toolkit is built around ten different domains (or topics): finances + money management; job + career; life skills; identity; permanence; education; self-care + health; housing; transportation; community; culture and social life. In this Toolkit, each of these domains is shown as a line on a subway map. The “subway” map will give you a look at everything you’ll need to plan for on your way to successful life on your own. The Toolkit also provides with transition planning worksheet templates.