Alabama Administrative Code
Title 660 - ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES
Chapter 660-5-48 - SMOOTH TRANSITIONS INTO ADULTHOOD
Section 660-5-48-.04 - Program Development
Universal Citation: AL Admin Code R 660-5-48-.04
Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 5, February 29, 2024
(1) Program Components shall include:
(a)
Control over their future,
by involving the youth in an Individualized Service Plan. Their involvement in
planning steps and goals to be achieved will help to assess and identify skill
they need for life. Through the provision of such services as life skill
development groups and youth advisory councils each individual has the
opportunity to meet and learn from others while developing social skills. They
are then empowered to directly participate in helping to designing activities
that will help prepare them for self-sufficiency.
(b)
Competency includes the
educational attainment and life skills development that are provided through
Independent Living Services
(c)
Permanency includes helping the youth develop a network of
reliable and responsible individuals who instill the youth with a sense of
continuity and belonging and will serve as resources for assistance with
problems encountered in the future.
(d)
Usefulness can be fostered
in youth by allowing them to provide services that benefit others while
providing them opportunities to practice skills, gain valuable experience and
develop relationships within the community. County Departments shall develop
partnerships to promote volunteer and employment opportunities for youth in
their community.
(2) Provision of Independent Living Services.
(a) Independent Living Services shall occur
concurrently with continued effort to achieve permanency. Independent Living
Services shall be directed toward achieving the following outcomes:
1. Improved attainment of education and
employment; and
2. Avoidance of
dependency, homelessness, non-martial childbirth, incarceration, and other
high-risk behaviors.
(b)
Placement Resources. Transitioning from the dependence of childhood to living
independently as an adult is a process requiring a decrease in adult
supervision. Two types of resources that may assist in this transition are:
1. Transitional living which is an
alternative living arrangement that provides foster youth (ages 17 through 20)
with opportunities to practice independent living skills in a variety of
on-campus settings with decreasing degrees of care and supervision;
and
2. Independent Living which is
an alternative living arrangement whereby the youth lives in community based
housing rather than in a foster home or on a group home campus. Ideally, this
allows the youth the opportunity to continue the decreased care and supervision
so that the youth will ultimately be responsible for their own care and will
ultimately be prepared to live on their own in the same location when DHR no
longer holds custody.
3.
Placement Criteria. The youth must be between the ages
of seventeen and twenty-one years of age before transitional or independent
living can be considered. The court must approve the change in placement when
transitional or independent living is determined appropriate; or if there is no
court involvement, the parent/legal custodian must consent to the placement
unless the youth is 19 years of age. Additional criteria is to be considered by
the Individualized Services Planning Team to assess the potential success of
the placements
4. Individualized
Service Planning Requirement. Decisions and plans for living will be made by
the Individual Service Planning (ISP) Team. Prior to foster youth moving into
any licensed or approved transitional or independent living setting the team
will assess the plan and give approval to implementing the plan. If a youth
living arrangements are in need of a change or change due to an emergency, the
ISP team shall meet within 72 hours to review the need for the change and to
review and revise the youth's plan.
Author: Jerome Webb
Statutory Authority: Consolidate Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA, P. L. 99-272); Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (Chafee Act, P. L. 106-169); R.C. v Hornsby, No 88-H-1170-N, Consent Decree (M.D. Ala. Approved December 18, 1991).
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Alabama may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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