A San Antonio nonprofit that helps young adults earn high school diplomas says it received only about 10% of the funding it needed to run its SOAR program this fiscal year, even as demand keeps climbing. SA Youth now has a waitlist of up to 250 people for a program built to serve a fraction of that number at a time, and the gap is forcing hard choices about staffing rather than who gets a seat in class.
SA Youth is described as a San Antonio nonprofit that helps young adults earn high school diplomas, according to KSAT. Maria Benavidez with the organization said SA Youth is in survival mode constantly, per the same report, capturing the tension between rising need and shrinking dollars. The SOAR program serves young adults who have become disconnected from school and the workforce. The outlet describes SOAR as a comprehensive and robust effort.
How SOAR Works Today
SOAR runs three cohorts of 15 to 20 students per year, and slightly more than 120 students have graduated with a high school diploma over two years, the station's report notes. Beyond academics, the program provides case management and mental health services, and it remains free for students who qualify. According to the SOAR! program's own description on SA Youth's website, it gives young adults ages 16 to 24 who left the traditional school system a path to earning an accredited high school diploma.
To get on the waitlist, applicants must live in Bexar County, be between 16 and 24 years old, and have left school with at least one high school credit, per the same account. Interviews for the program's January cohort are expected to begin in November, though an exact date has not been specified.
Therapy Staff Cut After Federal Funds Dried Up
The most visible casualty of the funding shortfall has been mental health staffing, not classroom capacity. SA Youth cut staff instead of reducing class sizes after American Rescue Plan Act funding that had flowed through Bexar County ran out, the outlet reports. The organization's therapy staff was reduced from four full-time therapists to one part-time therapist now working with 40 students at a time.
SA Youth is looking to private foundations and individual donors to help fill the gap, with even small individual donations, including $10 gifts, adding up, the report notes. The organization says it does not plan to walk away from the students who need support and will find a way to keep serving them.
A City Budget Squeeze Years in the Making
The funding strain at SA Youth is unfolding as San Antonio city leaders work to address a $158 million deficit, a budget pressure that is squeezing funding for community organizations across the city. The scale of unmet need among young people is significant, though estimates vary: KSAT's report cites about 35,000 people ages 16 to 24 in San Antonio who are disconnected from school and the workforce, while a city presentation in August put the figure at 36,000 opportunity youth communitywide, according to a city council committee recording. A separate report from TPR likewise cited an estimated 36,000 people in that age range across Bexar County who are disconnected from work and school.
SA Youth is not the only organization caught in the squeeze. Nonprofit leaders have warned that reduced city funding could force organizations to shrink programs, eliminate positions, or turn away people who rely on their services, TPR reported in September. Proposed cuts tied to the city's future FY 2028 budget planning could affect 48 programs serving more than 9,300 residents across all 10 City Council districts, though those cuts have not yet been finalized.
At a city budget session in September, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones floated tapping other funding streams to help offset the pressure on youth programs. Let's use some of that ready-to-work money, she said, according to TPR's report. Let's plus up the workforce training for our opportunity youth.
Other Youth Programs Offer a Point of Comparison
SA Youth's struggles sit alongside a patchwork of other city-linked efforts aimed at the same population. The city's NXT Level center has served about 1,400 youth since its creation in 2019, and in 2024 alone it served 518 youth, helped 69 obtain a diploma or equivalency, and saw 83 participants land jobs, per TPR's reporting. A municipal courts reenrollment program was reported to have served 950 individuals, while the Ready to Work workforce-development initiative served 539, according to the August city committee recording.
SA Youth has outlined plans for its own expansion, separate from current funding troubles: a proposal described on the Impact San Antonio project page calls for an extra cohort of 20 students three times a year, adding 60 students annually, with an expectation that 80% of those participants would complete their academic credits and graduate with an accredited diploma. For now, though, the organization's most urgent task is covering the gap between the funding it has and the 250 young adults waiting for a seat.
