Independent Living Program - Florida's Center for Child Welfare

Fiscal Analysis of Florida’s Independent Living RedesignFinal Reportby Katherine GaughenRecent research clearly demonstrates improved outcomes for young people who stay in fostercare past the age of 18. 1 Young people who remain in care are significantly more likely to attendcollege and as a result, experience long-term financial benefits on lifetime earnings. Moreover,young people who remain in care past the age of 18 are less likely to become pregnant as teens,more likely to receive independent living and health services that support their transition toadulthood, and more likely to develop and maintain critical connections to family and community.A recent Chapin Hall study concluded that the financial benefits of extending foster care—both forindividual youth and for society—outweigh costs to government by a factor of approximately 2 to1. 2 Longer-term, states that invest in extending foster care past the age of 18 can expect to see adecrease in the use of public assistance, homelessness services, and incarceration among youththat age out of foster care.Through the Road to Independence, Transitional Support Services, and Aftercare SupportServices programs, Florida provides support for young people transitioning from foster care untiltheir 23 rd birthday. Despite Florida’s robust services for transitioning youth, the state is notconsistently achieving the outcomes established by the Independent Living Service AdvisoryCouncil (ILSAC). As a result, members of ILSAC and participants at the Independent LivingSummit sponsored by the Florida Coalition for Children determined that services to young adultsformerly in foster care in Florida needed to be redesigned. As such, the Florida Department ofChildren and Families and ILSAC, with support from the Foster Care Work Group and the JimCasey Youth Opportunities Initiative, convened a workgroup and requested that The FinanceProject (TFP) assist in facilitating conversations regarding the redesign of independent livingservices to young adults and estimating the costs of the redesigned services.As the Independent Living Redesign Workgroup began their discussions, they also sought tomaximize new federal funding available through the Fostering Connections to Success andIncreasing Adoptions Act of 2008, which gives the states the option to extend Title IV-E eligibilityfor young people ages 18 to 21. Through the Act, States are able to receive federalreimbursement for qualifying young people under three IV-E programs: 31. Foster Care Maintenance: for young people who remain in foster care placements;2. Adoption Assistance: for young people adopted at age 16 or older through their 21 stbirthday; and1 Extending Foster Care to Age 21. Clark M. Peters, Amy Dworsky, Mark E. Courtney, Harold Pollackhttp://www.chapinhall.org/sites/default/files/publications/Issue_Brief%2006_23_09.pdf2 Ibid.3 Title IV-E eligible foster youth age 18 and older must be either: completing high school or an equivalent program; enrolled in post secondary or vocational school; participating in a program or activity designed to promote, or remove barriers to, employment; employed for at least 80 hours per month; or incapable of doing any of these activities due to a medical condition.The Finance Project 1