Module13: Independent Living - Preparing Youth for Life

/ Time:5 hours, 30 minutes
Module Purpose:: This module addresses the adolescent’s individual needs, life skills, education, and social skill development to prepare the child to live independently and have a quality of life appropriate to the youth's age.
/ Demonstrated Skills:
  1. Demonstrate how to use a Life Skills Assessment.
  2. Demonstrate how to create a Permanency Pact.
  3. Using role play, demonstrate creating a Transition Plan and a Life Skills Assessment.
There are 3 units in this module.
Materials:
  • Flipchart
  • Participant’s Guide
  • Trainer’s Guide
  • Access to 409.145 F.S.

Agenda:
Unit 13.1 Independent Living
Unit 13.2 Adolescents Needs
Unit 13.3 My Future My Choice – Extended Foster Care
Trainer Instructions and Script:
Display slide 13.0.1: Independent Living – Preparing Youth for Life (PG:X)

Display slide 13.0.2: Learning Objectives (PG:X)

Display slide 13.0.3: Agenda (PG:X)

Unit 13.1: Independent Living

/ Time:1 hour
Unit Overview:This unit explains the Independent Living program, its features, benefits, and terms.
/ Learning Objectives:
  1. Explain the purpose of Independent Living.
  2. Describe Pre-Independent Living for youth 13-15.
  3. Identify the responsibility for life skills training for children 13-17
  4. Describe requirements to extend living in foster care
  5. Demonstrate the differences in an Independent Living case plan..

Trainer Instructions and Script:
Display slide 13.1.4: Unit 1: Independent Living(PG:X)

Display Slide 13.1.5: Learning Objectives (PG:X)

/ Say: This unit is about Independent Living (IL), a process to provide children in care with the skills and resources they need as they become older.
  • The teenage years comprise a critical stage in child development. During these years, youth begin to discover who they are, their place in the larger society, and their own empowerment.
  • Therefore, special efforts are needed to encourage and promote the healthy development of this age group. These youth need help in establishing healthy connections with other youth and caring adults, and in acquiring educational and life skills training that can assist them in the transition to adulthood.
  • Generally, most youth are not prepared for full independence at age 18 and most continue to rely on family supports well into their twenties. Youth in foster care are less likely to have such family supports. Therefore, it is important to provide them with independent living skills and life skills training to help them in their transition to adulthood.
  • Florida’s legislative intent, as outlined in chapter 409.1451, F.Sreinforce the need to provide youth in foster care with opportunities to participate in life skills activities in their foster families and communities and the need to provide services to build life skills and increase their ability to live independently and become self-sufficient.
  • It is also important that each child in foster care get assistance and guidance in setting early achievement and career goals for postsecondary education and work experience. For youth who have reached 13 years of age, case plans must include an educational and career path based upon both the abilities and interests of the youth.
  • The goal of IL transition services is to assist teens in care and young adults formerly in care to obtain life skills and education to live independently, obtain employment, gain a quality of life appropriate for their age, and assume personal responsibility for becoming self-sufficient adults.

Trainer Notes:
  • F.S. 39.6251 Continuing care for young adults : (1) As used in this section, the term “child” means an individual who has not attained 21 years of age, and the term “young adult” means an individual who has attained 18 years of age but who has not attained 21 years of age.)
  • Recent laws have transferred many responsibilities associated with independent living services for children ages 13-17 to foster parents and group home caregivers, eliminating the need to contract for those services, and encouraging the kind of mentoring relationship that parents usually have with their biological children.
  • There is a lot more freedom in foster parenting than previously existed. Children and youth are allowed to participate in activities with their peers, and the case manager works with families to help caregivers share life skills training.
  • There are also more opportunities for young adults to receive assistance in transitioning to adulthood.

Display slide 13.1.6: Shane (PG:X)

We will begin this segment with a video.
Share the information below about Shane.
Click the hyperlink on the PPT
Trainer Notes: The video that was chosen to start this segment is about Shane, a man who describes his journey as a foster care child and expresses his lifelong disappointment in not being adopted and aging out of the system, much too soon. Shane, now a very successful businessman who has worked in a variety of high positions, presently runs an agency that helps children.
(6:59)
The video is about seven minutes.
Refer participants to Questions on PG:# as we will be discussing these after the video.
Debrief the video.
/ Ask:As an adult, how does Shane feel about “belonging”?
Ask: How did Shane overcome his feelings of not having a family as a child?
Ask: What were your thoughts when Shane described the number of times he was moved?
Ask: How did Shane feel when he had to leave foster care?
Ask: Did he feel prepared to take on life’s responsibilities?
Highlight the point that Shane is an example of someone who overcame the obstacles of long-term foster care.
Trainer Notes: Introduce the next video, “Aging Out”
(2:52)
Display slide 13.1.7: Consequences of Aging Out(PG:X) and click on the video hyperlink

Ask participants to take notes on the statistics provided, including:
/ Ask:How many children age out?
Ask:How many have been homeless?
Ask:How many graduate from high school and college?
Ask participants to look at their notes and provide the statistics mentioned in the video.
Conduct a discussion about children who age out of foster care being more likely to be incarcerated, homeless, and for females, to get pregnant.
Remind participants of the video that they saw earlier in Module 7, called “Place to Place,” which provides statistics on foster care, and follows three children who aged out. The video also showed the desire of legislators to do something about finding better and more homes for children who are older.
Further statistics may be found at:

Trainer Notes: These are statistics for you to add if you wish on a flipchart on in discussion:
According to various studies across the country of young people who have aged out of foster care without a permanent family:
  • 12-30 percent struggled with homelessness
  • 40-63 percent did not complete high school
  • 25-55 percent were unemployed; those employed had average earnings below the poverty level, and only 38 percent of those employed were still working after one year
  • 30-62 percent had trouble accessing health care due to inadequate finances or lack of insurance
  • 32-40 percent were forced to rely on some form of public assistance and 50 percent experienced extreme financial hardship
  • 31-42 percent had been arrested
  • 18-26 percent were incarcerated
  • 40-60 percent of the young women were pregnant within 12-18 months of leaving foster care.

Discuss what “doing it right the first time” would mean for foster care.
Trainer Notes: There are many videos that you can access on youtube.com about this concept. You can steer participants to other links that can be viewed on the same page as the link below, in case they want to see more videos at home or on breaks.
/ Say: Some of the reasons that have been proven to deter children in foster care from achieving their goals are lack of family relationships, and not acquiring the skills they need by the time they turn 18, when, in the past, they no longer were able to live in foster care. We have seen from the video, our own observations, and from our discussions that children need nurturing and assistance from birth to adulthood, and beyond. For now, lets’ focus on adolescence.
When a child begins adolescence, he or she needs to be aware of building skills for surviving on his or her own—the purpose of independent living. Children need to develop life skills to prepare for the future.
/ Ask:When you were growing up, what types of life skills did you parents or caregivers teach you?
Use answers in the segment below. Some ideas are listed for you.
/ Say: Just like your parents or caregivers taught you something about finance; such as, how to save money or balance a checkbook; or they showed you how to cook, camp, fill out a job application, or participate in community events, the responsibility for teaching life skills is the responsibility of foster parents and group home caregivers. This encourages a family connection, a way for relationships to build naturally, just like they do with biological families.
Display Slide 13.1.8:Pre-Independent Living (PG:X)

Trainer Notes: If you have an agency Pre-Independent Living Assessment tool, provide it to the class and review the required information.
/ Say: For youth ages 13-14, a pre-independent living assessment must be completed that identifies service needs and services to be provided.
  • Pre-independent living services include, but are not limited to, life skills training, educational field trips and conferences.
  • The specific services to be provided for the youth are determined through the pre-independent living assessment.
  • The assessment must be conducted using an approved assessment tool, a file review and review of other assessments and evaluations, including educational, psychological and psychiatric evaluations.

Review following in your own words
Trainer Notes:Annual staffings for all children reaching 13 years of age, but not yet 15 must be conducted to:
  • ensure that the pre-independent living training and services determined by the pre- independent living assessment are being received
  • evaluate the progress of the child in developing the needed independent living skills
At the first annual staffing and each subsequent staffing, occurring after a child's 14th birthday, the child's case plan must include:
  • an educational and career path based upon both the abilities and interests the child
  • a detailed personalized description of services provided by the Road-to-Independence Program
  • A written report regarding the assessment and all staffings must be provided to the court at each judicial review and must be signed by the youth.

Display Slide 13.1.9: Let’s Skate! (PG:X)

/ Say: This looks like a picture of two happy people, doing what they like to do for recreation!
Display Slide 13.1.10: F.S. 409.145(PG:X)

/ Say: F.S. 409.145 (2) Quality of Parenting describes what quality parenting means to the State of Florida, including participating fully in the child’s life, and ensuring that “the child in the caregiver’s care who is between 13 and 17 years of age learns and masters independent living skills.” It also assigns the responsibility of to be “aware of the requirements and benefits of the Road to Independence Program.”
F.S. 409.145 (3) Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standardrequires “every child who comes into out-of-home care to be entitled to participate in age-appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, and social activities.” In the past, there were restrictions on what children in care could do.
F.S. 409.145 (4) Foster Parent Room and Board Rates requires community-based care lead agencies providing care under contract with DCF to pay a supplemental room and board payment to foster care parents providing independent life skills and normalcy supports to children who are 13-17 years of age in their care.
Trainer Notes: You may refer participants to 409.145 to read entire passages. The above quotes are excerpts.
Display slide 13.1.11: Nancy C. Detert Common Sense Independent Living Act(PG: X)

/ Say: Learning life skills doesn’t ever end. In addition to continuing to learn life skills after age 17, some youth may need additional supports beyond their 18th birthday when foster care traditionally ended.
  • The “Nancy C. Detert Common Sense and Compassion Independent Living Act” creates an option for young adults in foster care who have not found permanency before turning 18 years of age to remain in care up to 21 years of age in order to finish high school, earn a GED, pursue postsecondary education, or begin a career. They may stay in care until age 22 if they have a documented disability.
  • Signed into law on June 24, 2013, and effective January 1, 2014, current and former foster youth will have a variety of independent living services available to support their success. “My Future, My Choice” is the theme foster care alumni chose for this new program, because it gives Young Adults a variety of optional supports to help them successfully transition into independent adulthood.
  • Extended Foster Care (EFC) will provide Young Adults with safe housing, case management services, judicial oversight of their progress toward independence, and other services they need to provide them with a sound platform for success as independent adults.
  • Postsecondary Education Services and Support (PESS) also is available to Young Adults who have reached 18 years of age but are not yet 23 and are enrolled in college, a university or vocational school.
  • Aftercare Services are available to those not enrolled in EFC or PESS, to provide a safety net for Young Adults who find themselves in need of a helping hand.

Display Slide 13.1.12: Requirements(PG:X)

/ Say:Requirements of the Nancy C. Detert Common Sense Independent Living Act:
Summarize in your own words.
  • Requires a young adult choosing to remain in care beyond 18 years of age to reside in a supervised living environment, approved by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) or a community-based care lead agency (CBC);
  • Allows a young adult to leave and reenter care an unlimited number of times before reaching 21 years of age;
  • Requires a CBC lead agency to provide regular case management reviews that ensure contact with a case manager at least monthly while a young adult participates in extended foster care and requires the court to review the young adult’s status at least every six months and hold a permanency hearing at least annually; and
  • Requires the creation of a transition plan after the 17th birthday of a child in foster care that will be reviewed and updated as necessary.
More specifics will be provided in Unit 13.3.
See the following for a summary of the legislation and questions and answers.

You may review this in class during this unit, or in 13.3.
Insert Slide 13.1.13: Eligibility(PG:X)

/ Say: F.S. 39.6251 Continuing care for young adults describes eligibility requirements for a child to remain in licensed foster care:
Summarize in your own words.
(a) Completing secondary education or a program leading to an equivalent credential;
(b) Enrolled in an institution that provides postsecondary or vocational education;
(c) Participating in a program or activity designed to promote or eliminate barriers to employment;
(d) Employed for at least 80 hours per month; or
(e) Unable to participate in programs or activities listed in paragraphs (a)-(d) full time due to a physical, intellectual, emotional, or psychiatric condition that limits participation. Any such barrier to participation must be supported by documentation in the child’s case file or school or medical records of a physical, intellectual, or psychiatric condition that impairs the child’s ability to perform one or more life activities.
The statute also describes the type of supervision required in living arrangements, including:
An environment that offers developmentally appropriate freedom and responsibility; such as,
  • licensed foster home
  • licensed group home
  • college dormitory
  • shared housing
  • apartment
  • anotherCBC approved housing arrangement acceptable to the young adult, with first choice being a licensed foster home.
Refer participants to where they can find the statute, and give them just a few minutes to review it.
Display Slide 13.1.14: Living Environment(PG:X)

/ Say: The environment must offer:
  • a level of supervision consistent with the youth’s individual education, health care needs, permanency plan, and independent living goals
  • opportunities to complete a case plan
  • availability of 24-hour crisis intervention and support
  • life skills instruction
  • counseling
  • educational support
  • employment preparation and placement
  • development of support networks
The determination of the type and duration of services shall be based on the young adult’s assessed needs, interests, and input and must be consistent with the goals set in the young adult’s case plan.
Display slide 13.1.15: Case Planning(PG: X)

/ Say: We will now talk a bit about case planning for young adults, since a youth’s goals, aspirations, and future plans are what the case plan addresses. The case plan for older youth and young adults are somewhat different than case plans for younger children because they focus more on the youth, and not as much on caretakers.