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              Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
FFY 2011 Annual Progress and Services Report
335
Northern and Western Suburbs of Chicago
The Department is currently working with providers on expansion to include homes for
pregnant and parenting children who are caring for their own children. Many of the current
programs have pregnant and/or parenting teens in their programs, and we have worked with
these agencies on individual wrap plans.
Transitional Living Program and Independent Living Program (TLP/ILO) Redesign
An extensive collaborative effort involving three divisions of DCFS and the provider
community spent several months surveying existing program structures and available services.
Building on the research, this collaborative initiative has developed a seamless continuum of
services for youth transitioning into adulthood, and the Department continues to support this
work.
Three major principles guided the development of the new TLP/ILO continuum:
 Progressive independence -- holding youth increasingly accountable as they progress.
 Kinship connection -- identifying an adult person with whom providers can help the
youth develop and nurture a lifelong relationship.
 Sustainability -- placing youth in circumstances where they can continue successfully
as they reach adulthood.
A youth may enter a transitional living program at one of four levels depending on his or her
age, educational attainment, behavior and level of functioning. A fifth level is an independent
living program (ILO) which youth may access directly, or progress to from a transitional living
program. Even when a youth is admitted into an ILO, he will not be completely on his own.
However, the continuum of services is designed to support progressive responsibility with the
expectation that by the age of 21 a young adult will be well prepared to pay his own rent and
maintain himself in his own apartment.
Transitional Living Programs (TLP)
The purpose of Transitional Living Programs (TLP) is to provide youth with an opportunity to
practice the skills necessary to live independently while continuing to receive supervision and
supportive services. TLPs are single-site locations with on-site staff 24 hours per day and 7
days per week.
To be eligible for a TLP, a youth must be:
 17 years of age or older.
 able to be safely maintained in a community setting.
 willing to actively participate in education, employment and other services specific to
his or her particular strengths, needs and goals.
There are four levels of placement under the TLP program. In general, the levels are defined by
the amount of autonomy that an individual youth is able to manage. Youth who are engaged in
school and/or work and who are managing their treatment needs with minimal support will be
matched with commensurate program structures. Youth requiring more direct support to
manage their behavioral health needs and youth requiring intensive programming (focused on
developing the skill sets they need upon emancipation) will receive more intensive support.