When people think of the YMCA, exercise and recreation may be the first things that come to mind. There’s another side to the local agency: the Channel Islands YMCA (CIYMCA, for short) provides extensive social services through its Youth and Family Services (YFS) division. Launched in 2001, the YFS division has become the area’s leading service provider for underserved youth and youth at risk of neglect, abuse, and homelessness through programs at the Haley Street Navigation Center and Noah’s Anchorage Youth Shelter in Santa Barbara, among others.
A Women’s Fund grant of $100,000 to the CIYMCA, its fourth in 10 years, helped YFS expand its services for “transitional-age youth” ages 18-21 who are aging out of the foster care program and need help to achieve their goals for education, employment, physical and mental health, financial literacy, and housing stability.
The lives of many at-risk youth who have come up through the foster care system run by the state are often shaped by trauma of one sort or another. About 10% of the approximately 500 children in foster care in Santa Barbara County age out each year. The challenges of becoming an adult exist for all young people, but for those coping with significant mental, physical, and educational hurdles without the support of a loving family, the problems become even more acute. Transitional-age programs are essential in helping young people address the mental and physical challenges that often accompany placements in foster care to improve their odds for successful adult lives.
For example, in the state of California, although the average high school graduation rate is 83%, for students in foster care, only 53% graduate on time. Without intervention, within four years of aging out of foster care, 25% will be homeless; 50% will be unemployed; and only 3% will earn a college degree. Twenty percent end up being incarcerated by the age of 21. Twenty-five percent become parents by the same age. Many of them become vulnerable to substance abuse issues, homelessness, and human trafficking.
Our grant underwrites partial salaries and benefits for a program director and resident assistant, along with furniture and equipment for a new residential facility, called the Lyons House, which was opened in late 2025 on the westside of Santa Barbara. Through a generous donation by a local philanthropist and the support of several local foundations, Lyons House helps nine residents at a time gain the support they need to launch into adulthood by providing free housing, food, clothing, computer and internet access, group outings, mental and physical health care, modest stipends, as well as education and employment counseling.
YFS hopes that within two months of entering Lyons House, 90% of residents are employed, enrolled in school, or participating in a workforce certificate program. Upon exiting Lyons House, YFS hopes that 80% of them have found permanent housing, as well as full-time employment, college enrollment, or workforce certification. Through extensive case management, YFS expects to help its residents transition into independent, productive adult living by the time they conclude their residency in the program.
Jennifer Heiner-Stiffler, Chief Operating Officer of CIYMCA and its YFS division says, “With its grant, the Women’s Fund has surely contributed to improving the life prospects for all at-risk, transitional age youth throughout Santa Barbara County.”