Youth are eligible to receive services through the Independent Living Program when they have been in care for 90 cumulative days after their 16th birthday. Federally recognized tribes are also eligible for Independent Living Program services in collaboration with the state run program. Tribal youth must meet the same eligibility criteria as non-tribal youth.
Eligibility criteria
- Currently are or have been the responsibility of a state foster care agency or Indian tribe either through a court order or voluntary foster care placement agreement with the child’s family and Child and Family Services
- Be between ages 14 and 21 for Independent Living services and between ages 16 to 26 for Education and Training Vouchers (ETV)
- Have resided in an eligible placement setting which includes foster care, group care, Indian boarding school or similar foster care placement and excludes inpatient hospital stays, detention facilities, forestry camp or other setting primarily designed for services to delinquent youth
- Youth become eligible to receive funding through the Independent Living Program when they have been in care for 90 cumulative days after their 16th birthday.
- If a youth is determined eligible for independent living services and is subsequently adopted, the youth remains eligible for independent living services until age 23. The only exception is that youth adopted or placed in a guardianship before the age of 16 are not eligible for ETV even if they meet independent living eligibility requirements.
- Room and board services are available only to those eligible youth, including American Indian/Alaska Native youth, who have aged out of foster care settings upon reaching the age of 18 years, but have not yet reached the age of 21
Contact your case manager, independent living coordinator, or statewide coordinator to apply for services.