Dear AFS Volunteers,

We’ve just received deeply disappointing news: the Office of Management and Budget has blocked funding for the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program for the 2026–27 school year. Unless this decision is reversed, the program will end after the 2025–26 class — cutting short more than 20 years of extraordinary exchanges that have brought outstanding students from nearly 35 countries to live in U.S. communities, and sent American teens abroad.

We know how much the YES Program means to you. But right now, we face an even more immediate challenge — one of the most difficult placement seasons in years. Students are arriving within weeks, and many still have no host families. If we do not act together, these students — YES and non-YES alike — may never experience the exchange year they’ve been preparing for.

This is an all hands on deck moment for AFS-USA. Every person involved — volunteers, staff, alumni, and friends — is needed to help us overcome this placement crisis.

Here’s what you can do immediately:

• Consider hosting yourself — even for a few weeks as a Welcome Family.
• Commit to finding one more placement by reaching out to friends, family, co-workers, or community contacts.
• Contact your elected officials to tell them why YES matters and urge them to release funding for 2026–27.

Every placement we secure now is more than a home for a student — it is proof to our communities, our government, and the world that America still welcomes and values cultural exchange.

Thank you for stepping up in this moment. If each of us takes action, we can meet this challenge together.

With gratitude and determination,

Tara M. Hofmann
CEO and President
AFS-USA