Overview
History
ILP’s Philosophy
The ILP Model

Case Study

Independent Living Program (ILP) Staff
Contact Information

Overview
CJCJ has created the first-ever scattered site independent living program in the nation for 18 to 21 year old offenders.  In 1999, the Independent Living Program (ILP) began serving youth diverted from or returning from residential detention, who otherwise have no supportive home environment.  ILP was implemented in Washington, DC to respond to the District's need for safe residential options for youth transitioning out of detention.  Through our work depopulating Washington’s correctional facility, the Oakhill Youth Center, ILP promotes institutional alternatives for homeless youth or near-homeless youth, from dysfunctional or unsafe home environments.  ILP provides its clients with furnished apartments scattered throughout the District of Columbia, where they can begin building all the necessary skills for independent living.  In addition to receiving private apartments, clients receive intensive case management services to ensure successful reentry into the community upon program completion.  Program staff ensure each client has access to employment, education, health care, and other necessary social services.  It is ILP’s goal to facilitate each client’s development of independent living skills and to ease their transition into community living.  One of the prime benefits of this program is that it promotes self-sufficiency and avoids the negative associations that occur in large group residential programs.


History
Through its work depopulating the Oakhill Youth Center by promoting institutional alternatives in the late nineties, CJCJ discovered there was a great need for alternative placements for homeless youth or near-homeless youth and thus developed the Independent Living Program.  Since 1999, ILP has served countless paroled youth offenders from the District of Columbia’s Oak Hill Youth Correctional Facility.  Operating under contract since 2001 with the District of Columbia’s Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services (DYRS), CJCJ’s ILP places transitional youth parolees in single unit furnished apartments while simultaneously providing clients with intensive supervision and case management services.  Since 1999, ILP has continued helping young people successfully build self-reliance and life management skills.

ILP’s Philosophy
ILP is based around the notion of unconditional care.  This “no eject, no reject” philosophy dictates ILP’s client acceptance and termination protocol.  The program refuses to discriminate against any youth based upon his/her individual needs.  ILP accepts all youth, regardless of the juvenile’s level of risk.  Similarly, ILP will not terminate services or remove a client from the program due to poor performance.  Instead the program adopts the notion of unconditional care and conducts an intervention with the youth to determine why he/she is not performing as expected.  Often client goals and services are altered at this point to better meet the juvenile’s needs.  ILP’s overall philosophy is that any youth, with the proper guidance and support, can succeed, and every youth deserves a chance at success.

The ILP Model
CJCJ’s ILP houses up to 15 young adults aged 17 to 21 in scattered site furnished apartments.  Clients are provided with intensive case management, a weekly stipend, around the clock monitoring, crisis support, and an array of specialized services.  Program staff work with the clients to develop an individualized and comprehensive "life plan."  In developing the life plans, staff seek input from the youth, his/her family, the social worker, and whoever else may be able to provide useful insight on the youth’s specific needs.  A client’s life plan is tailored specifically with each youth’s strengths and needs in mind, while also factoring in each individual’s particular goals, and objectives.  The individualized plans include numerous treatment categories.  ILP maintains a wide network of education services, substance abuse counseling, vocational training, mental health counseling, and other community-based services to allow each youth to connect to the different services that will best suit him/her.  Program staff maintain small caseloads so as to best assist clients in enrolling and accessing appropriate services.  Program staff also encourage clients to develop their own social support networks.  This assists the youth in securing community relationships that are significantly useful once the youth has successfully transitioned into the greater community.  In addition to outlining the range of support services the youth need, life plans also state the objectives and goals that need to be met prior to program completion.

In addition to working on their individualized plans, each client is also required to actively participate in weekly life skills seminars.  The classes are taught by trained ILP staff and feature everything from basic living skills, like budgeting and banking, to nutrition, food preparation, personal hygiene, and even proper home cleaning techniques.  In an effort to ensure each client is taking pride in keeping his/her home environment up to proper standards, the weekly life skills classes are hosted at the clients’ apartments, on a rotating basis.  This permits each client the opportunity to showcase his/her apartment, while also providing a relevant environment in which to learn life skills.  Teachings from the weekly seminars are reinforced throughout the week through one-on-one work between program staff and youth.

In addition to learning life skills, youth are also supported and counseled on family reunification, providing the youth an opportunity to widen and strengthen their individualized support systems.  It is ILP’s goal to preserve the relationship between the youth and his/her extended family whenever deemed possible and appropriate.  ILP has a trained professional Family Preservation Specialist who collaborates with the youth and the youth’s extended family in order to maintain an open line of communication.  The Family Preservation Specialist, with support from the entire program staff, assists the youth and his/her family in identifying techniques to prevent, reduce, and eliminate unnecessary and harmful communication barriers.

Finally, prior to releasing a youth into the community, substantial preparation is made to allow for the youth to successfully achieve independence.  To ensure a smooth transition into the community, transitional preparation begins 90 days before a youth is scheduled to graduate from the program.  At this 90 day mark, a transitional plan is developed, including:

Substantial collaboration occurs during the transitional period, between program staff, the youth, his/her family, the DYRS representative (social worker), and other appropriate individuals from the youth’s now fully developed support system.  This ensures the youth’s transition from ILP to the community is met with incredible success.

Case Study

Darrel entered the ILP program with two counts of burglary, possession of marijuana, and an expectant girlfriend.  At the time of his entry, his behavior portrayed dislike for the program.  He did not like to comply with curfew rules or any other regulations imposed by the staff.  The beginning phase deemed to be a struggle for him.

As quickly as three months into the program, however, he obtained a job with National Park Services as a lifeguard at the local swimming pool.  Six months into the program he was promoted to senior lifeguard.  Darrel was now adjusting to his new lifestyle.  He was earning a fairly stable income and was able to take care of some of his own expenses.  A year later he was promoted once more to a supervisory position.  Darrel successfully graduated from the ILP program and now commands a park services vehicle with which he has been entrusted to drive to and from work.  CJCJ has since received an invitation to his wedding.  This stood out as a clear sign that the young man is doing well and has changed his life completely for the better.  CJCJ is proud to have taken part in this success story.

Independent Living Program (ILP) Staff

Roland Carey, Program Director
Charles Brogsdale

David Hairston
Stephanie Lyon
Beverly Mercer
Kevin Wilson

Contact Information
To learn more about ILP, please contact:
Roland Carey, Program Director
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
1234 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite #103
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: (202) 737-7270 ext. 237
Fax: (202) 737-7271