The Independent Living Program (ILP) was authorized by the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-169).  The ILP provides training, services and programs to assist current and former foster youth achieve self-sufficiency prior to and after leaving the foster care system.

In California, each county has the flexibility to design services to meet a wide range of individual needs and circumstances for current and former foster youth, and to coordinate services with other Federal and State agencies engaged in similar activities. 

There are seven basic competencies incorporated into the ILP program.  As part of ILP services, youth attend workshops and receive case management services, both focusing on assisting youth to develop skills in each of the competency areas. Those areas include:

• Employment
• Daily living
• Survival skills
• Choices and consequences
• Interpersonal/ Social Skills
• Education and Training
• Computer/ Internet skills

Additional individualized services may include obtaining personal documents, preparing a resume, applying for colleges and scholarships, and securing stable housing and employment.

Individualized program services and activities are documented in a Transitional Independent Living Skill Plan (TILP), part of the CWS/CMS case plan. 

Youth are eligible for ILP services up to their 21st birthday provided one of the following criteria is met:

• The youth was or is in foster care at any time from his or her 16th to 19th birthday.
  
  • This does not include youth placed in detention facilities, locked facilities, forestry camps, training schools, facilities that are primarily for the detention of youth who are adjudicated delinquent, medical and psychiatric facilities, voluntary placements, wraparound program participants, youth placed pursuant to an individualized education program and guardianship placements in which the youth is not a dependent or ward of the court.
  
  

• The youth is 16 years old or older, under guardianship, and continues as a court dependent
  
  
• The youth is 16 years of age up to 18 years of age and receives KinGAP assistance, regardless of the youth's age when the dependency case was closed.

• Guardianship with a non-relative was established after the child was 8-years-old, dependency is dismissed, and the youth continues to receive Permanency Planning services.

The federal definition of foster care is 24-hour substitute care for children placed away from their parents or guardians and for whom the State [or local] agency has placement and care responsibility.  This includes, but is not limited to, placements in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, child care institutions, and preadoptive homes. A child is in foster care in accordance with this definition regardless of whether the foster care facility is licensed and payments are made by the State or local agency for the care of the child, whether adoption subsidy payments are being mad prior to the finalization of an adoption, or whether there is Federal matching of any payments that are made.

Core services included in the ILP are provided to each youth based on the youth’s identified individual needs and goals as documented in the Transitional Independent Living Plan (TILP) including, but not limited to:

• Education, including: skill development, assistance and referrals to obtain literacy skills, high school diploma/GED, post-secondary education experiential learning and computer skills;

• Career development, including: assistance and referral to obtain career exploration, work readiness and responsibility skills, employment development, employment experience, vocational training, apprenticeship opportunities, job placement and retention;

• Assistance and referral to promote health (including mental health) and safety skills including, but not limited to:
  • substance abuse prevention
  •  smoking cessation
  •  pregnancy prevention and
  • nutrition education;
    
    
• Referral to available mentors and mentoring programs;

• Daily living skills, including: information on and experiences and training in financial management and budgeting; personal responsibility skills; self-advocacy; household management; consumer and resource use; survival skills; and obtaining vital records;

• Financial resources, including: information and referrals regarding applicable financial assistance, including, but not limited to, incentives, stipends, savings and trust fund accounts, educational/vocational grants, CAL-Grants, Employment Development Departments, registered in One-Stop Career Centers, Workforce Investment Act funding and programs, other employment programs and other forms of public assistance including, but not limited to, CalWORKs, Food Stamps, and Medi-Cal; and

• Housing information, including: training and referrals about transitional housing programs; federal, state and local housing programs; and landlord/tenant issues.

To refer a youth for ILP services, the social worker first develops a Transitional Independent Living Plan (TILP) with the youth. The Transitional Independent Living Plan (TILP) is a part of the youth’s individual case plan and is a description of the youth’s emancipation readiness and emancipation preparation services that have been and will be provided to the youth to assist the child to make the transition from foster care to independent living.  ILP Services will not be provided if a youth does not have a TILP or his/her TILP is not updated by his/her social worker.

To develop a TILP, the social worker:

• Creates a TILP in CWS/CMS case plan.
• Prints out the blank TILP.
• Saves the TILP to the database.
• Conducts a joint planning and assessment meeting with the youth and completes the data fields on the hard copy of the TILP.
• Signs the TILP
• Has the youth sign the TILP.
• Provides the youth with a copy of the TILP with both signatures.
• Enters the data from the hard copy of the TILP onto the TILP that was created in CWS/CMS.
• Saves the completed TILP onto the database.
• Prints out a copy of the TILP
• Takes the printed copy to the ILP Unit.
• Date stamps the TILP
• Leaves the TILP in the TILP basket at the ILP Unit.

Once the TILP is received by the ILP coordinator, the coordinator determines if the youth is eligible for ILP services based on the eligibility criteria.

Once the youth is determined to be eligible, the youth is referred to Family and Children's Service (FCS), the contracted service provider.  If the youth lives out of county or out of state, a referral is forwarded to the ILP coordinator of the other county or the ICPC Liaison of the other state.

If the youth moves after the TILP has been submitted, the social worker must submit an Updated Information Referral (SC 1690u) to the ILP unit.

ILP participation is deferred only if the youth:

• Is physically or mentally unable to benefit from the ILP as determined by the youth’s primary care physician or health/mental health care professional or

• Declines to participate in the ILP.

Social workers must document in the case plan the reasons why ILP services are not appropriate for the youth.  If ILP participation is deferred, the social worker, on behalf of youth in foster care, or the ILP coordinator, on behalf of KinGap youth and other eligible youth, shall document in the TILP the reason(s) for the deferment.

A redetermination of deferment shall be made at least every six months and documented in the TILP.  The social worker must ask the youth every 6 months if he/she has changed his/her mind about ILP.

Eligibility for the ILP shall not be determined by outside agencies such as contractors or vendors.

The responsibilities of social workers in relation to ILP are to:

• Ensure that foster care/probation youth are given appropriate information about and the opportunity to participate in the ILP.
  
  
• Ensure that ILP participation is not used as a punishment or reward.
  
  
• Use the TILP document available on the Child Welfare Services Case Management Services (CWS/CMS).
  
  
• Work with foster youth to ensure that they have access to ILP core services as described in CDSS MMP Section 31-525.8.
  
  
• Collaborate with the youth, ILP Coordinators, care providers, and other service providers to ensure the development and implementation of TILP goals, services and activities, including addressing transportation needs.
  • Counties shall encourage providers to participate in the development of the TILP.
    
    
• Prior to the youth’s emancipation, ensure that ILP services are provided as identified in the TILP.
  
  
• Defer ILP enrollment only if the youth is physically or mentally unable to benefit from the program as determined by the youth’s primary care physician or health/mental health care professional or if the youth declines to participate.
  • A redetermination of deferment shall be made at least every six months and be documented in the TILP.
    
    
• Provide, as applicable, the necessary records, referrals and documentation to ensure that timely and appropriate ILP service provision has met the goals and services of the TILP as described in Section 31-236.
  
  
• Collaborate with the ILP provider, youth, caregiver, and additional service providers to ensure services are provided to prepare the youth for self-sufficiency.
  
  
• If the youth defers ILP services or does not actively participate, it is the responsibility of the social worker to ensure additional resources are in place to prepare the youth for self-sufficiency.

Santa Clara County contracts with one agency to provide ILP services to youth residing in Santa Clara County:

Family and Children Services

2248 North First Street

San Jose, CA 95131

The responsibility of the ILP coordinator is to:

• Ensure that every eligible youth participating in ILP up to age 21 has a TILP.
• Collaborate with the youth, social workers, care providers and other service providers to ensure the provision of core services and activities so that the goals outlined in the youth's TILP are achieved.
• Ensure that participation in ILP is not used as a punishment or reward.
• Not duplicate or replace services that are available through other agencies and programs.
• Recruit, offer and provide individualized ILP services to eligible youth including emancipated youth, legally emancipated minors, and KinGap youth.
• Ensure that benefits, services and treatment are fair and equitable to all eligible youth.
• Utilize the Emancipated Youth Stipend to provide assistance to emancipated youth who are eligible for the ILP pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 10609.3.
• Attend Emancipation Conferences for youth who are placed out-of-county/state (via phone if necessary) or are not receiving ILP services.

When funding is available, the Emancipated Youth Stipend (EYS) is state funded to provide assistance to youth who age out of foster care and are transitioning to adulthood. The Stipend is available for youth from age 18 through 20 who are actively participating in ILP.  The stipend request is completed by the youth, in consulation with his or her ILP case manager. 

Emancipated youth who reside in Santa Clara County contact their assigned ILP case manager to identify their needs and request funding.  Emancipated youth who live out of county/ state contact the county of residence ILP Unit to request EYS.  If a youth is not connected to the ILP provider, the youth should contact the DFCS ILP Unit to apply for a stipend.  Documentation is required to support the requests.

Funds are available to assist with:

• Bus passes/ tokens
• Housing rental deposits and fees
• Housing utility deposits and fees
• Rent
• Furniture
• Household Items
• Work-related equipment and supplies
• Clothing for interviews
• Uniforms
• Training-related equipment and supplies
• Education-related equipment and supplies
  • College tuition
• Books
• Health related expenses not covered by Medi-cal
• Car repairs/ Insurance
• Costs related to child(ren) of emancipated youth

The Former Foster Care Children (FFCC) program provides MediCal benefits to youth who were in foster care at the age of 18.  These benefits continue until the youth reaches his/her 21st birthday.  The ILP social worker is available to provide information about the program or contact Diana Guajardo, Eligibility Supervisor, 975-5806.

• Maricela Martinez , Social Work Supervisor, ILP Unit

Tel: (408) 501-6839

• Carla Macias, Social Work Coordinator, ILP Unit

Tel: (408) 501-6836

• Bert Borja, Social Worker III

Tel: (409) 501-6860

• Matt Gibson, Social Worker II

Tel: (408) 501-6825

• General Information or ILP Referral Status, ILP Unit

Tel: (408) 501-6866

Toll Free Number:  1-877-975-1225