In September 2026, Yfoundations made a submission to the Select Committee on Foundational and Disability Supports Available for Children and Young People in NSW, which reopened its submission portal to take further evidence. Foundational Supports is the new system of disability-related supports being built outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) jointly funded by the Commonwealth and states/territories.

This submission argues for the young people our members work with who are not yet in scope. Young people with disability and young people with unrecognised developmental, cognitive and psychosocial support needs are common in youth homelessness services, and our members report they are routinely undercounted because they were never assessed. There is no foundational supports stream for anyone over the age of eight years. Once a young person experiences homelessness, they are less able to reach the supports that do exist.

This submission is about that gap, about where the NDIS and the Specialist Homelessness Services system intersect. It makes five recommendations to the NSW Government covering assessment funding, decision-making authority for young people under 18 years, evidence requirements under the new assessment framework, accommodation for 16 and 17-year-olds, and a foundational supports stream for young people aged 9 to 21 years.