In 1987, Willie sued the State of New York in Palmer vs. Cuomo, so that no other youth like him would ever be discharged from care to the streets. Willie won his case and made it possible for youth in care after him to have better opportunities. Unfortunately, Willie died a few years later on the streets. This is considered the genesis to the national independent living movement.

Shortly after, in June of 1988, a small group of professionals working in the social services field, met to discuss their concerns about foster care youth and their need for independent living skills as they transitioned to adulthood. They discussed the impact that the new legislation being introduced at the time would have on these youth. From these discussions, a grassroots organization, The National Independent Living Association (NILA), was born.

NILA ‘s members and governing board, most of whom were in some way involved in serving older youth in care, helped agencies, states, and the community begin to understand the mirage of needs and challenges facing young people in foster care. NILA’s philosophy emphasized youth involvement at all levels of service delivery, from program design to implementation, monitoring and evaluation. NILA recognized and supported young people currently and formerly in the foster care system as the “true experts”, bringing their voice to the “national table”. Youth advocacy by the true experts remains at the forefront of NILA’s work.

Another major impact on independent living was the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 and the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, signed by President Clinton in December, 1999. The new law provided increased funding to states and mandated that they provide more support, services, training and life skills education to foster youth and their caregivers. In addition, states were mandated to provide services to young adults age 18-21 that had left care due to reaching the age of majority. These services include support and assistance in the areas of housing, employment, education, counseling, vocational training, life skills, as well as financial support.

Most states and organizations had not worked with this population of young adults, which brought new challenges and complexities for their staff. Networking, communication, and the ability to educate service providers needed to be increased. NILA filled and continues to fill that need.

The National Independent Living Association would like to thank all of its members for their hard work and dedication to our mission. We appreciate your commitment to building bridges for youth. We do what we do in honor of Willie Palmer and for all the youth who are growing up in foster care. Our responsibility to these young people is no different than our responsibility to our own children. We vow to continue our commitment to ensuring positive transitions and futures for all young people in foster care.