This study examines a non-profit foster care program's ability to teach youths ages 14 to 21 independent living skills. The agency, located in the northeastern United States, near a major urban area, did not have a successful transition of its youth to a Supervised Independent Living Program (SILP), which provides young men and women the opportunity to live in pre-independent apartments, experience "the real world" while receiving supervision, counseling, and life skills training. The most significant problem for the foster care program was that it was not preparing youths for life beyond the foster care system. This problem occurred primarily because the caseworkers and administrators focused their attention on infants and toddlers in the agency's care rather than independent living skills for older youths. A program was developed that encouraged youths to be as involved in the planning and implementation process as possible. The program was a hands-on, do-it-yourself experience for the youths, with the goal of helping them enter the SILP. The program used a group format for such things as: motivational presentations, guest speakers, life skills inventory exercises, and field trips to the Department of Labor and Neighborhood Legal Services. Though the program was considered a success, there were several obstacles--the most serious of which was the lack of cooperation from the agency with the exception of the chief executive officer. Future research is recommended. A Life Skills Inventory and a Calendar Plan are appended. Contains eight references. (KW)