Older children and youth in out-of-home care are eligible to receive independent living services to help prepare them for self-sufficiency in adulthood. They can receive these services while they are living in any type of out-of-home care placement (such as kinship care, family foster care, or residential/group care), or after they are returned home.

Youth receiving independent living services can be working toward achieving any of the permanency goals (such as reunification, adoption, or guardianship) or they may be heading toward emancipation from (aging out of) foster care to adulthood on their own. Independent living services generally include assistance with money management skills, educational assistance, household management skills, employment preparation, and other services.