As of October 2022, over 53,000 children and youth are in foster care in California, including approximately 13,000 youth between the ages of 16 and 21. The State has an obligation to offer services and supports to help these young people transition into adulthood. The Independent Living Program (ILP) helps transition age youth currently or…

By using concept-mapping techniques and incorporating the Afrocentric framework, this study demonstrated that people with mental illnesses, when asked and provided the means to participate, can engage in meaningful identification of their needs, service conceptualization, and prioritization. They provided 13 service area needs that included 104…

A case study is presented of Westport Associates, a corporation in Westport, Massachusetts, which operates small group homes for formerly institutionalized men and women with severe disabilities. Westport Associates was founded to create the antithesis of an institution, to treat residents as individuals worthy of respect, and to offer residents…