Theo
Theo, 17. In licensed foster care, Tampa. Junior in high school. Never had a job.
This is an illustrative account. Every detail is invented.
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Full case
Situation
Theo is 17, in licensed foster care in Tampa, a junior in high school, and has never had a job. He turns 18 in seven months. Nobody has told him what changes on that day, and he has no way to get to an interview if someone offered him one.
Why this case matters
This is the caught-early case. Almost every program in the catalog starts at 18. Theo is the youth the system meets before the cliff. The things that matter at 17 are unglamorous: a birth certificate for an I-9, a phone number an employer can reach, a driver's license. The product knows which ones are his today.
The feature he used
Capture. Over three weeks, Theo's real life shows up in his own words. A now-hiring sign near school, with his note: "they said bring ID and a social." A conversation with his coordinator about his birth certificate. His learner's permit study book. And the Keys to Independence page, with the line the whole case turns on: "this pays for driver's ed??" That is the moment he found out something was his, with a date on it.
What changed
He did something with it. He messaged his coordinator, who wrote back that the birth certificate fee is covered, the form is in, and yes, he's eligible for Keys to Independence now. His plan holds three open steps: sign up for Keys, get a phone number employers can reach, and study for his permit.
Said out loud
Theo is seventeen. Almost everything the state has for him switches on at eighteen, and nobody has told him what's already his. The product found the three things that are: a birth certificate, a phone, and a driver's license. Those aren't benefits in the usual sense. They're what makes a 17 year old hireable. He found out from his phone, told his coordinator, and there's a record of the day he did.
The federal line
NYTD's first survey of every youth in care happens at 17. That baseline is where the federal government starts counting Theo: employment, education, whether he has an adult he can rely on. This is the year Florida's numbers for his cohort begin. At 18, Chafee-funded supports open to him. Step into Success, ETV and the tuition exemption are already in the catalog with the age they turn on. Workforce readiness for foster youth isn't a new priority. WIOA names foster youth as a priority population, and CareerSource is the door. The product doesn't replace CareerSource. It gets him to the building with the paperwork he needs already in hand.
Honest note
At 17, the product can't yet show Theo what he'll be able to apply for at 18. The matcher knows the age bands but doesn't look ahead. That view of what turns on, and when, is the single most useful thing we could build for a youth his age, and it's next.
How his information is protected
- He owns it. U Navigate is not the state's system of record. His account is his. Nothing about him is shared with a caseworker or anyone else unless he chooses to share it.
- The record can't be rewritten. His Journey Record is append-only. Entries can be added. They cannot be edited or deleted after the fact, by him or by us.
- Every row is locked to him. Database access is enforced row by row. A request for his data returns his data only, even if our own code has a bug.
- What the AI is given, exactly. Lexi knows his first name and his state, so he doesn't have to repeat himself. His last name, email, phone number, address, date of birth and account identifier are never sent to any AI provider from his account, and an automated test fails our build if that changes. A document he chooses to upload is different, and the next line says how.
- When he uploads a document, the AI reads it. That's how Lexi summarizes a lease or finds a deadline on a form. The document is his, the summary is his, and neither is used to train anything.
- No ads. No data sales. Ever.
- What isn't done yet. We don't yet have a Business Associate Agreement or a zero-data-retention commitment from our AI provider. Until we do, we tell agencies that plainly and don't accept HIPAA-covered data.
Engineered by co-founder Shane Cupid.