The Independent Living Project (ILP) was a three-year project carried out by the Institute for the Study of Children, Families & Communities at Eastern Michigan University. Funding of the ILP was granted from September 2000 through September 2003 by the Administration for Children, Youth & Families branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The major objectives of the ILP were to develop a competency based curriculum for child welfare practitioners working with youth transitioning from foster care, establish a curriculum in the experience and knowledge of youth and workers who were successful in negotiating transitions, the training of 300 child welfare practitioners in the needs of older adolescents transitioning out of foster care in the states of Michigan, Ohio and Oregon, provide specialized competencies for working with older youth who are gay/lesbian, disabled, adjudicated or of an ethnic minority group, develop a competency based web course to aid in meeting the needs of older youth transitioning out of foster care and lastly, distributing the training curriculum to other trainers and agencies allowing for nationwide utilization of the program.