Office of Foster Youth Support Services

UC Riverside’s Office of Foster Youth Services (FYSS) is committed to supporting students who are transitioning from the foster care system to adulthood in their pursuit of higher education. We offer a wide range of resources, including academic support, enrichment activities, housing assistance, mentoring, student programming, mental and physical health services, financial aid guidance, and more. Our goal is to empower these students to reach their full potential and achieve success in all their endeavors.

FYSS provides access to the following services:

• Year-round, on-campus, and family housing
• Mentoring and student programming
• Mental health resources
• Health and counseling services
• Financial aid assistance and counseling
• Personalized writing tutoring
• Admission and enrollment assistance
• Monthly community lunches
• Quarterly community-building activities
• Textbook assistance (see Eligibility below)
• Food and hygiene pantry

Eligibility for FYSS Services

To be eligible for FYSS services, you will need to provide the following:

• Ward of Court Documentation illustrating you spent 24 hours or longer in foster care at any time prior to age 18. (FYSS can assist with obtaining your ward of court documentation.)
• Textbook assistance for those students with demonstrated need who were in foster care for any period of time during adolescence (i.e., ages 10–18).

Guardian Scholars Program

The Guardian Scholars Program (GSP) provides an intensive and case-managed network of resources to students who are currently in extended foster care, and who will or have already “aged out” or “emancipated” from the foster care system.

GSP prioritizes our most vulnerable subset of foster youth, namely those who were not reunited with kin or adopted out of the system. Our goal is to facilitate the successful pursuit of higher education for emancipated foster youth by offering augmented services, including financial assistance to provide basic needs, such as housing, medical co-pays, and access to educational opportunities.

GSP offers access to the following services (in addition to those noted above)

• Priority registration
• Priority housing
• Weekly community-building activities
• Financial awards for basic living expenses, educational and emergency needs

Eligibility for GSP Services

To be eligible for GSP services, you will need to:

• Be a current ward of the court through the foster care system or have aged out of care.
• Have an independent financial aid status.
• Be between ages 16–26 at the time you begin your studies at UCR.