Independent Living for Young Adults (ILYA)

ILYA’s VISION:
Every youth in Delaware aging out of the foster care system has the resources and services to achieve a fulfilling, successful, adulthood and to feel connected to a caring community.

ILYA’s MISSION:
ILYA (Independent Living for Young Adults) is a social justice program that supports young adults aging out of Delaware’s foster care system so they feel part of a caring, connected community. ILYA’s volunteers work in partnership with Delaware’s Division of Family Services to provide projects designed to increase the opportunities for youth to achieve a fulfilling future.

How does ILYA supplement the work of Delaware Family Services (DFS)?

ILYA volunteer teams support former foster youth with meaningful and useful projects that let these young adults know there are people in the community who care about them and their future.

ILYA serves these youth primarily through the following projects:

  • Student Care Packages: Gifts and notes during the academic year and for birthdays boost morale for young adults in post-secondary school, vocational programs, and military service.
  • Apartment Furniture: Young adults may select, at no cost to them, used furniture in good condition for their first apartment.
  • New Apartment Kits: To go along with furniture, laundry baskets filled with basic kitchen and bathroom necessities help young folks feel comfortable and proud in their first apartment.
  • Graduation Celebration and Backpacks: Many young adults leaving foster care have no celebrations when reaching this big milestone. We provide a celebration event and backpacks as well as an opportunity to build support networks with other graduates.
  • Holiday Giving: ILYA makes the holidays brighter by providing gifts and packages during the winter season.
  • Baby Supplies: ILYA makes basic items for new babies — a new car seat and stroller in addition to fun new baby supplies — available to young mothers-to-be.
  • Tutoring: Students receive assistance with academic tutoring, study skills, and practicing entrance exams.
  • Emergency Grants and Loans: Grants and loans from ILYA assist with emergency needs such as security and utility deposits, student admission fees, and books.
  • Advocacy: Written and oral testimony is occasionally offered before public bodies on matters affecting those aging out of foster care.

Items included in the New Apartment Kit recently donated by UUSD members and given to a Sussex County youth who secured housing for the first time!

Who are the volunteers in ILYA?

  • ILYA is a UU-sponsored program that began at First Unitarian Church of Wilmington. For over 20 years ILYA volunteers in New Castle and Kent Counties have developed and implemented these programs for youth aging out of foster care. We are so happy that UUSD has now brought ILYA to Sussex County youth! Many of the volunteers in ILYA are members or friends of Delaware Unitarian Universalist congregations but the project has drawn interest and volunteer commitment from the community as well. Some volunteers have had experience with foster care and some have had little to no involvement with the child welfare system.
  • Most of us participate in ILYA to help others, to pay back to our community (for the privileges we have enjoyed), and to live our values. We’ve found that helping others helps us to better understand obstacles facing those less fortunate and better appreciate advantages in our own lives.
  • If you are interested in hearing more, volunteering, or donating, please contact ILYA@uussd.org.

Why are teens in foster care?

Those unfamiliar with ILYA (Independent Living for Young Adults) since its beginning may ask why we focus on youth ‘aging out’ of foster care. Here are some basic foster care facts to help answer that question. The term ‘foster care’ often brings to mind an image of a baby, toddler, or a sad-looking school-age child. Not everyone is aware that teenagers, too, must sometimes enter foster care. In fact, approximately 40% of Delaware youth in foster care are ages 13-18. This percentage is consistent with national figures.

Older youth come into foster care for many of the same reasons that younger children do: abuse or neglect in their homes. When such concerns are reported to the child protection officials at the Division of Family Services (DFS) by teachers, school nurses or staff, neighbors, relatives, caring friends, or the youths themselves, placement in a foster home is often the only option.

Some of these concerns include:

  • Children of all ages can be subjected to undue physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse by their caregiver.
  • A caregiver may fail to protect their teenager from sexual abuse or exploitation, either because they do not believe the youth or because the caregiver is dependent on the alleged abuser.
  • Teens’ families can become serially homeless and there may be no safe place for a teen to live other than foster care.
  • The drug epidemic has robbed many children of their caregivers. When parents are addicted and dysfunctional, and there are no grandparents or other family members to step in, foster homes may be the only option.
  • Similarly, the incarceration of caregivers may leave offspring with no options other than foster care.
  • When an elderly grandparent or relative who has been the sole caregiver passes away, there may be no one else to offer care.
  • Sometimes, a child who enters foster care before the teenage years has suffered such significant trauma that lingering mental health issues prevent them from being adopted and they are still in foster care after they turn 13.
  • There are times when the parent/teen conflict becomes so severe that the parent refuses to let the youth remain in the home. When resources to address the disrupting issues are unsuccessful, foster care is, again, the only option.

DFS contracts with People’s Place, West End Neighborhood House, Progressive Life, and Children’s Choice in New County; and Murphey School. DFS also contracts with People’s Place and Children’s Choice in Sussex County.

Quotes from ILYA recipients

“The support I’ve received from ILYA has been a significant part of what made me the man and father I am today, a master’s-prepared social worker supporting young people in foster care.” —Dion

“Thank you guys so much! I really appreciate all of your kindness towards me and ensuring that I can have an awesome college experience. With so much gratitude.” —Rashawn

If you are interested in hearing more, volunteering, or donating, please contact ILYA@uussd.org