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' CHILDREN ' S HOME SOCIETY INDEPENDENT LIVING PROGRAM Indian River County Children ' s Services Advisory Committee B . PROGRAM NEED STATEMENT (Entire Section B not to exceed one page) 1 . a) What is the unacceptable condition requiring change ? b) Who has the need ? c) Where do they live ? d) Provide local, state , or national trend data , with reference source, that corroborates that this is an area of need . Florida is experiencing a surge of teenagers and young adults . Between the years 2000 and 2015, the number of teens and young adults in Florida (ages 14 -24) will increase some 23 % . Florida has never experienced this volume increase of teenagers , and our state ' s service infrastructure- educational, health , social service, therapeutic, or youth justice systems- is simply unprepared for this surge of young Floridians (http : //www.floridakids . org/trends . htm) . The Independent Living Program is designed to provide services to children in foster care and young adults formally in foster care who are ages 13 to 23 . The largest group of children in foster care is between the ages of 12 and 18 (http : //www. chilescenter. org/index. htm) . The Independent Living Program provides the skills necessary for these children without a loving family to grow into productive, self- sufficient adults. At this time there are 140 children between the ages of 13 and 18 in foster care in District 15. In addition, there are 19 young adults who are receiving transitional support services . This program is currently serving 22 Indian River County youth and young adults . 2 . a) Identify similar programs that are currently serving the needs of your targeted population ; b) Explain how these existing programs are under-serving the targeted population of your program. This program is the only one of this nature serving the targeted population of youth and young adults ages 13 -23 , in the foster care system . 6