The holiday season is a time when people gather with loved ones and celebrate abundance, but for California’s most vulnerable youth to be out of school for the holidays means even more uncertainty about where they’ll find food. And that leads to even greater risks.
That’s the finding of a coalition of Orange County nonprofits that is tracking 500 at-risk youth to better understand what they need to lead more stable lives and avoid abusive situations.
The collaboration will use new tools for digital incident management, investigation, and prevention developed by human trafficking victim advocate EverFree in partnership with the University of California, Irvine. This allows nonprofits to collect information from young people ranging from elementary school and middle school students to 24 years old.
The nonprofit said nearly half of students referred by social work case managers and tracked through digital tools said they were not living a healthy lifestyle. One in five people said they often didn’t know how to eat, and a third said they struggled with their mental and emotional health.
Shelby Feliciano-Savara, a social worker and chief partnerships officer at Project Hope Alliance, a nonprofit organization that helps children experiencing homelessness, said all of the participants come from families who are homeless and living in temporary housing such as motels or sharing crowded housing with unrelated families. The organization is working with EverFree and Stand Up for Kids Orange County on this project.
Schools can be more than just places to learn, Feliciano-Savala said.
“Young people experiencing homelessness can find a sense of belonging, safety and normality when they are at school,” she says. “When you lose that habit and you no longer have access to that food, your normal life is disrupted.”
Kelsey Morgan, co-founder and CEO of Everfree, said when already vulnerable young people become more insecure about food security, those often seek to exploit the situation by luring them into forced labor, sex work, or exposing them to gender-based violence.
“We have heard from many other partners of young people who have run away and been approached by their traffickers who simply offered them a McDonald’s cheeseburger,” Morgan said.
Feliciano-Zavala said she has heard stories of traffickers luring young people with meager gifts like rolled bags of Takis tortilla chips.
“Food insecurity is actually an out-of-control situation where children are so desperate that anyone who tries to provide something small for them is winning their trust,” she says.
Feliciano Zabala said private nonprofits are “critical infrastructure” year-round, but especially during the holidays when demand spikes.
For example, she said her nonprofit is distributing gift cards to restaurants that make dining more comfortable and safe for families living in their cars. Families staying in hotels without a place to cook will receive prepared meals such as turkey and tamales. Her nonprofit also distributes food from a small pantry and buys groceries for families in need.
Insufficient food is a serious problem for youth and families in California and across the United States, and school-age children are not the only ones at risk.
One in four college students nationwide is food insecure, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan U.S. Government Accountability Office, which provides fact-based information to Congress. But most potentially eligible people are not enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the GAO study found.
Congress passed legislation in 2024 aimed at increasing student enrollment in federal food assistance by giving the U.S. Department of Education authority to share student data with federal and state SNAP agencies to determine student eligibility. However, GAO said in this year’s report that the department does not yet have a plan to share this data or provide guidance to states on the benefits of the law.
The self-assessments completed by Orange County youth ages 18 to 24 as part of the nonprofit’s data collection reflect food access concerns reported by youth across the country. According to the survey, about half attend higher education institutions full-time, one-third work part-time while attending school, and the remainder work full-time. As a result, many people are worried about food even though they have an income, Morgan said.
In fact, she said, among college students who share their top priorities for the 2024 holiday season, having enough to eat ranks higher than proper clothing and safe and stable housing. The nonprofit organization plans to release further insights about the youth it tracks in 2026.
“When you look at the data of what these young people are looking for, it sheds a lot of light on what their core vulnerabilities are,” Morgan said. “These are people who aspire to dignified employment. They prioritize things like savings, household income, money management, employability skills, and healthy lifestyles.”
Feliciano Zabala said the digital tool was developed in response to caseworkers’ desire to provide tailored support to those in their care.
The nonprofit organization hopes to share its findings with service providers and policy makers to better address young people’s voices about their lives and dreams.
