By Stephanie Caspers, ND Region V and VI Chafee IL Coordinator
Independent Living (IL) is a process that results in youth having the resources and skills to live successfully on their own. The Chafee IL Program helps coordinate services for the youth in the community, but what else can be done?
As a program we have always said, “Independent living is not something you ‘attend’, nor do you ‘complete’ it, as it’s an on-going process.” The youth we work with are usually in need of so many life lessons and are looking to us, their team, to help them. They may be self-referred or come to us from a treatment facility, foster home, or even a relative’s home, but one thing remains the same – they all need to learn the skills necessary to live on their own. There are many ways life skills can be learned; I will cover what we focus on when working with youth in ND.
As we all know each youth is different and they each have their own way of learning. It is important to be knowledgeable of the different options available to assist youth in learning these skills at a level that is comfortable to them.
The first and most important place we look for assistance in learning these skills is in the home. The majority of the youth we serve are placed in foster homes; in this setting almost every aspect of IL can be taught. Foster parents should be aware of and recognize teachable moments. What is a teachable moment? In the course of daily life, opportunities appear to guide a youth’s life skill development. Often times these moments occur when the youth wants, needs, or shows interest in something or when the parent chooses to create and engage the youth in an activity (cooking, budgeting, buying groceries, etc.) This is taken from Ready, Set, Fly! which is A Parent’s Guide to Teaching Life Skills. This is a book available to parents and foster parents that has activities organized into six areas: daily living skills; housing, transportation, and community resources; money management; self-care; social development; work and study skills. “Ready, Set, Fly! offers many suggestions for creative life skill activities to help youth reach their life skill goals. Often just reading about these activities will give parents ideas to create their own activities, which may better fit their youth’s needs.” Ready, Set, Fly! also has four different levels, starting at a much younger age. Youth as young as eight years old can start learning basic independent living skills and when it is appropriate should be recognized as a continuous process throughout their adolescence. Starting to make youth aware of their ability to identify skills and build their skills earlier than 17 or 18 years old will allow them to focus on their strengths and challenges as they prepare to graduate from high school and move out on their own.
In addition to achieving these skills at home, almost every school in ND offers classes that involve learning IL skills, such as banking. As youth are registering for classes in middle and high school, we need to be aware of these opportunities to further enhance their skills, and then be available to assist them with further questions outside of the classroom.
Another way for youth to develop their IL skills is to attend their local Chafee IL monthly youth meetings. (A youth must be choosing to participate in the IL program in order to attend). Each region in ND holds their own monthly meetings and cover different topics. On occasion there is not a planned speaker as it is just a way for the youth to get together and meet others who share their same experiences.
If a current or former foster youth is in need of Chafee IL services, contact PATH to speak to a Chafee IL coordinator about eligibility. The role of the Chafee IL coordinator is to be a part of the youth’s child and family team, and advocate on the youth’s behalf. The coordinators help administer an IL assessment (Ansell Casey), which helps identify the youth’s strengths and areas they may need additional assistance. This tool provides a platform for developing an IL plan, giving the youth specific goals to work on. The coordinators also assist in connecting youth to community resources that can assist the youth in meeting their personal goals. There are currently seven Chafee IL coordinators in the state of ND.
North Dakota also has a state Youth Leadership Board. This board consists of IL youth from across the state who engage in monthly conference calls and meet face-to-face quarterly to talk about issues and how to make it better for other youth in foster care. The ND Youth Leadership Board representatives are given the chance to speak at conferences and even advocate for foster youth in front of their legislators. Who better to advocate for change than the youth who have been there and face these challenges on a day to day basis? The board is an opportunity to teach youth how to let their voices be heard. “Nothing about us, without us” is one of the best statements when considering changes for youth in foster care; the changes involve them, so please learn to include them.
The ND Youth Leadership Board took on their first big project after deciding there should be a website available to youth to find resources available to them throughout the state. Through many hours of researching local resources in each of the eight regions of ND, the site was launched. Please feel free to check it out at www.nd.gov/ndyouth.
Lastly, a great piece of advice to make this easier for the youth we work with, and hopefully for you – make life skills development be about THEM, and make it fun! If we are setting goals for them that they are not interested in achieving, they are not going to be willing to work towards them. Yes, youth may need some guidance, but if you ask their opinion and let them speak on their own behalf, they will be much more likely to engage. This is their life, their plan!
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