2014 Oklahoma Statutes
Title 10A. Children and Juvenile Code
§10A-1-9-107. Independent Living Act - Short title - Purpose.

A. This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Independent Living Act”.

B. The purpose of the Independent Living Act shall be:

1. To ensure that eligible individuals, who have been or are in the foster care program of the Department of Human Services or a federally recognized Indian tribe with whom the Department has a contract, due to abuse or neglect, receive the protection and support necessary to allow those individuals to become self reliant and productive citizens through the provision of requisite services that include, but are not limited to, transitional planning, housing, medical coverage, and education, provided that eligibility for tuition waivers shall be as set forth in Section 3230 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and

2. To break the cycle of abuse and neglect that obligates the state to assume custody of children.

C. An individual is eligible to receive independent living services from the age of sixteen (16) until the age of eighteen (18), during the time the individual is in the custody of the Department or a federally recognized Indian tribe and in an out-of-home placement.

D. Independent living services may continue to the age of twenty-one (21), provided the individual is in the custody of the Department or a federally recognized Indian tribe due to abuse or neglect and is in an out-of-home placement at the time of the individual’s eighteenth birthday.

E. Individuals who are sixteen (16) years of age or older, who have been released from the custody of the Department or federally recognized Indian tribe due to the entry of an adoption decree or guardianship order are eligible to receive independent living services until the age of twenty-one (21).

F. Individuals who are eligible for services pursuant to the Independent Living Act and who are between eighteen (18) and twenty-one (21) years of age shall be eligible for Medicaid coverage, provided such individuals were also in the custody of the Department or a federally recognized Indian tribe on the date they reached eighteen (18) years of age and meet Medicaid financial eligibility guidelines.

Added by Laws 2000, c. 374, § 38, eff. July 1, 2000. Amended by Laws 2001, c. 415, § 3, emerg. eff. June 5, 2001; Laws 2009, c. 233, § 63, emerg. eff. May 21, 2009. Renumbered from § 7004-1.6 of Title 10 by Laws 2009, c. 233, § 299, emerg. eff. May 21, 2009. Amended by Laws 2010, c. 324, § 4, emerg. eff. June 5, 2010.

NOTE: Editorially renumbered from § 7004.16 of Title 10 to provide consistency in numbering.