Financial Capability in IL and Transition Planning

This project will examine how state independent living programs for youth involved in child welfare address financial capability, focusing on how states deliver this content and what their approved curricula actually teach. Federal law requires a written independent living component in the case plan for youth in foster care age 14 and older, as well as a personalized transition plan during the 90 days before a young person exits care. Yet we know remarkably little about whether the financial content delivered through these requirements treats financial capability as a meaningful developmental goal or simply as a box to be checked through budgeting classes or other discrete activities. No prior study has examined state-approved independent living curricula alongside the perspectives of the state officials responsible for selecting, overseeing, and implementing them. By bringing these two sources of evidence together, this project will fill an important gap in the field and establish an empirical foundation for subsequent intervention and policy research.