This brief summarizes the perspectives of 14 youth service providers across the country regarding how their organizations and young adults they serve are experiencing recent policy changes and uncertainty about future developments. It also offers recommendations on how to help providers stay up to date on policy and funding changes.

Why This Matters

At a time when youth service providers are needed more than ever, they are facing uncertain funding for their programs as well as cuts to public programs intended to support their clients. In this context, insights into how they are experiencing this change and uncertainty may help policymakers, funders, and advocates understand where to direct their attention to make sure these organizations are able to fulfill their missions and help young people thrive.

Relatedly, leaders at youth-serving organizations rely on timely, relevant policy information from state policymakers’ offices, networks of providers, advocates, and national policy organizations. Therefore, it is critical to understand what types of information are useful for these organizations and which approaches are most effective for sharing the information with them.

What We Found

In interviews conducted in summer 2025, just prior to changes to federal SNAP and Medicaid policy, providers revealed their concerns regarding the impact of recent policy changes on their organizations and the young adults they serve, as well as continuing uncertainty about future developments. Specifically, they shared that

• the policy environment has created a more challenging landscape for youth-serving organizations, many of which are contending with real or anticipated funding cuts or freezes;
• the policy environment is having an especially severe impact on three groups of young people—young adults from immigrant backgrounds, homeless youth, and young people who identify as LGBTQ+—and services directed toward them; and
• they are focusing on providing effective services for young people and trying not to dwell prematurely on future challenges.

Providers indicated that they are most interested in receiving updates about

• potential or enacted changes to federal and state policy that affect young adults,
• clarifications on executive orders,
• alternative funding streams and proven fundraising strategies, and
• ways to support young people in the context of new constraints.

They also noted that they prefer to receive short products that clearly indicate why the updates are relevant to the young adult populations they serve through their existing networks.