Independent Living Program - Florida's Center for Child Welfare

Young adults who areadopted at age 16-17 fromthe foster care systemYoung adults who areplaced with a dependencyguardian at age 16-17 fromthe foster care systemConnections criteria. Young adultsadopted at 16+ Young adults whoachievedguardianship at 16+Young adults who exit state custody from licensed foster care at age 18, including cross-systemyouth, and young adults who exit relative custody and unlicensed relative care at age 18 whochoose to opt out of intensive services can opt back in at any time prior to their 21 st birthday aslong as they meet the Fostering Connections eligibility requirements.Regardless of their eligibility category, the workgroup agreed that participation in continuedsupports and services is voluntary for all young people and they should be made aware ofavailable supports and services during the transition planning process prior to their 18 th birthday.For cross-system youth in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice/Department ofCorrections, the county of jurisdiction has the responsibility for ensuring that comprehensivetransition planning has been completed prior to the young adult’s 18 th birthday. A recent QualityAssurance report noted that minimum requirements regarding transition planning required byFlorida statute are not regularly being met by providers. Thoughtful, youth-centered transitionalplanning is critical to implementing the Independent Living Redesign. In order to achieve betteroutcomes these practices need to be strengthened statewide.Service Categories in Redesigned Independent Living ModelThe workgroup proposed transitioning from Florida’s current array of independent living servicesand supports to: Intensive Supports and Services and Bridge Supports and Services. IntensiveSupports and Services provide funding for housing and maintenance and requires young people toparticipate in case management. Bridge Supports and Services ensure that a young person hasaccess to an Independent Living Coordinator and provides services and time-limited cashassistance to assist young people in becoming independent. Following is a description of thesetwo service categories, as well as the proposed extension of subsidies for those adopted or movinginto kinship guardianship arrangements at age sixteen and older.Intensive Supports and ServicesYoung adults who exit state custody from licensed foster care, relative custody, or unlicensed careat age 18, including cross-system youth, who meet Fostering Connections criteria and opt tocontinue to receive supports and services must agree to engage in case management/lifecoaching, which will include at least monthly contact. 10 Portability of services is critical to youngadults and young adults must be able to access services statewide, however it is the county of theyouth’s residence that is responsible to ensure that monthly contact is made with young adults,their needs are assessed and services are provided/referred as specified in the transition plan. 11Key components of intensive supports and services include:10 The recommended caseload for caseworkers is 1:30 ratio, but it will be up to individual service providers to determineadequate caseload sizes to meet the needs of young adults in their care.11 Monthly contact could either be accomplished by the case manager/life coach from the county of origin making contactwith the young adult or through an agreement by which the county where the young person resides has monthly contactand reports back to the county of jurisdiction.The Finance Project 5