(a) On or before July 1, 2000, the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with county and state representatives, foster youth, and advocates, shall do both of the following: (1) Develop statewide standards for the implementation and administration of the Independent Living Program established pursuant to the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (Public Law 99-272). (2) Define the outcomes for the Independent Living Program and the characteristics of foster youth enrolled in the program for data collection purposes. (b) Consistent with federal law and reporting requirements, each county department of social services shall submit to the department an annual Independent Living Program report, which shall include the following: (1) An accounting of federal and state funds expended for implementation of the program. A county shall spend no more than 30 percent of federal Independent Living Program funds on housing. Expenditures shall be related to the specific purposes of the program. It is the intent of the Legislature that the department, in consultation with counties, shall develop a process for reporting that satisfies federal law and reporting requirements. Program purposes may include, but are not limited to, all of the following: (A) Enabling participants to seek a high school diploma or its equivalent or to take part in appropriate vocational training, and providing job readiness training and placement services, or building work experience and marketable skills, or both. (B) Providing training in daily living skills, budgeting, locating and maintaining housing, and career planning. (C) Providing for individual and group counseling. (D) Integrating and coordinating services otherwise available to participants. (E) Providing each participant with a written transitional independent living plan that will be based on an assessment of the participantâs needs, that includes information provided by persons who have been identified by the participant as important to the participant in cases in which the participant has been in out-of-home placement for six months or longer from the date the participant entered foster care, consistent with the participantâs best interests, and that will be incorporated into their case plan. (F) Providing participants who are within 90 days of attaining 18 years of age, or older as the state may elect under Section 475(8)(B)(iii) of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 675(8)(B)(iii)), including those former foster care youth receiving Independent Living Program Aftercare Services, the opportunity to complete the exit transition plan as required by paragraph (16) of subdivision (f) of Section 16501.1. (G) Providing participants with other services and assistance designed to improve independent living. (H) Convening persons who have been identified by the participant as important to them for the purpose of providing information to be included in their written transitional independent living plan. (2) Counties shall ensure timely and accurate data entry into the statewide child welfare information system for all youth receiving services pursuant to this section. (3) Counties shall ensure that eligible foster care youth continue to receive information about, and are provided with an opportunity to complete, the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) survey, based on an updated process that shall be developed jointly by the department, in consultation with counties to ensure maximum participation in the survey completion and compliance with federal requirements, as follows: (A) Counties shall provide information to the youth about the NYTD survey within 60 days prior to the date the current or former foster youth is required to be offered the survey. (B) Within 45 days following the youth in foster care turning 17 years of age, counties shall ensure that each youth has an opportunity to complete the NYTD survey as required by federal law. (C) Co
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