I first went to independent center in 1991 then in 1994 to make this easy i will list the pros and cons first 1. if you're parents weren't actors or doctors or well off like lets say the Kardashians then you are screwed. Be prepared to be treated like someone lower then a second class citizen and that was my case and they let me know it all the time but they thought that because of my learning disability I wouldn't understand or get that i was the laughing stock of the counselors there. one pro is that im still in touch with friends I made there some 30 years later con sadly a lot of what the negative views say are true as well as doesn't surprise me at all. pro: learned how to be super independent they helped me get a job which I had for years. learned all the cooking skills shopping whatever . con As soon as I left the program might as well have kicked me to the curb. There graduation program or what ever its called no help no support unless you or your parents paid dearly for it not only with money but stress as well. anyways there no way to list everything but pay attention to what the reviews say a lot of is not an exaggeration. save yourself a lot of time and money on psychiatrists that you may need or your child may need later in life. Just Run Away Dont pass go! Sadly I have had nightmares about this place more often than I care to admit. Now i do have to say many years later I dont know anything about the staff or new director so hopefully things have changed for the better. read more

Kindest program ever. I know I came here 10 years ago and it was a hellhole. The lady who ran it was terrible. Miriam, the new program director is such a kind person. I really feel like I have a family here. read more

If there was a negative number u could put that's what I would have chosen this lady rips u off of ur money apartments are mostly beat down they have weird groups like lunch groups and stuff and this program has nothing to do with living independently so if you are looking for a place to learn how to live on ur own this is definitely not the place. read more

I was shocked to see the very negative reviews of the Independence Center. My experience could not be more different. My son is a client. The Independence Center has transformed his and our family's lives. He has some learning disabilities and associated problems including suboptimal executive function. We suffered a family tragedy which stretched us all to the breaking point. I searched for a program to help him attain living skills and make better choices. Even though I live in the east coast, I heard great things from other parents about the IC. They gave him organizational and life skills such that he now has a very fulfilling job. It would not have happened without the IC. I also feel that I must respond to very personal attacks against the director, Judy. She is a wonderful person who cares deeply about the clients. Many of them have a streak of oppositionality. For this reason they sometimes have difficulty following rules which can create negative feelings. I agree that the apartments could be in better shape and know that the leadership is working hard on this issue. I strongly recommend the IC as a wonderful program. read more

The Independence Center is a "nightmare" for any young adult with learning disabilities looking to learn skills for life. The apartments are definitely "not to code" and have been allowed to become extremely run down, in need of new appliances, carpets which are shredded, paint, tile. When my son was there, he was treated with contempt, insulted, yelled at and degraded. I have seen it for myself. I believe that the Director, Judy has set the pace for all the staff members by modeling her own abusive, bad behavior. When confronted with verbal abuse, Judy will claim that my child lies. Staff members do not seem to understand anything about he disabilities of the young people in the program, nor do they know how to use positive reinforcement. Wrong medication has been given out. The young people are not treated with the respect they deserve, and everyone hates Judy, and living there. There came a time when I was actually afraid for my son's safety. Do not send your loved one to live there. read more

The services my family received here were very helpful. My brother was able to find a job and learned skills that we had struggled to teach him ourselves. The patience of the staff and the availability to speak to them whenever I needed was a plus. The program director Judy I found to be very compassionate and understanding towards my brother's needs. read more

The Center has been pivotal in the maturing of our son. He went to the IC as a couch potato but has a full-time rewarding job which he loves. He has acquired many life skills but is still learning more from them. He also has taken great strides in getting along with others, this may sound simple but it is not for people with challenges. I would highly recommend the center and it's director and staff. read more

Save your $30,000. I have first hand experience of dealing with this program for two years from 2013 to 2015. The program itself is housed in the Westside Terrace apartment complex in Culver City and while the complex itself is very nice, the program is outdated and outworn to say the least. The director of the program Judy is an 80-something year old woman who is clearly too out of touch with the needs and experiences of modern day young adults to provide them with any possible chance of coping with the pressures of the real world. The program is designed to equip young adults with learning disabilities with ways to handle living day to day lives in the real world. And while this sounds like a great goal, the realities of this program couldn't be harsher. Staff members who in general are pretty pleasant and well rounded individuals live in constant fear of upsetting the director Judy and will follow whatever unorthodox directive she gives. The biggest problem of this program is that the rules and structure more closely resembles a 1950's version of a mental hospital. Many residents who come here actually get worse instead of getting better. Please DO NOT send your child here. Take it from someone who knows. This is no place a parent would ever want to send their child. read more

I've interacted mostly with the staff of the Independence Center after finding out they worked out of the building I lived in. I started looking into the program for my niece but after looking into the program I decided against it. My interview with the director was not inspiring. The director is polite but I didn't feel like I was getting any concrete answers from her when we talked and the answers I did get seemed a little too good to be true. I am not a doctor but telling me over and over that my niece would have no trouble finding a job before even meeting her seems overambitious to say the least. It was also difficult to get in touch with the director. Initially I spoke with (I think) the office manager who was exceptionally rude. She told me I'd have to make an appointment but wouldn't take any of my information to actually make the appointment. Later I called back and a counselor answered the phone and I was able to leave my information with them. After several conversations with the staff and with the director I decided against calling my sister and recommending the program. The director seems to have little (if any) connection to the world around her and she comes off as forcing enthusiasm, she feels burned out and it comes across clearly. The staff seems very competent but the answer to a lot of my questions was "we might be able to do that but we'd have to check with Judy (the director) first." They stayed very "on message" but occasionally they'd let slip that they were unhappy. There seems to be serious animosity towards the director but thankfully it doesn't seem to have effected the care the program's participants receive. I watched several staff interact with participants and they were very good to see. My face-to-face with the office manager (Gloria) was no more positive than our phone interactions. She was pleasant but in that "I'm being nice because I have to be" way. She lasted about five minutes before someone came in and she snapped at them. She was sarcastic and altogether rude. I'd like to pass along a recommendation but I just don't feel comfortable doing it. If things made a shift, I'd definitely reconsider. I feel like the director is burned out and out-of-touch and the negativity from that is filtering down to the rest of the staff. The office manager seems like a deeply unhappy person. read more

This is one of the worst programs you could allow your learning disabled young adult child to enroll in. It is unorganized, unprofessional, punitive, and in my child's own words, "degrading." Our son went BACKWARDS in maturity and ability after living here. If you question the treatment by the staff, you will be told, "If we had employees like that, they wouldn't be allowed to work here any longer." If you ask about an incident that may have occurred, you will be told, "You will have to talk to Judy, the director about that, and she is in a meeting." If you question Judy, the director about a staff member, she will say, "I cannot address that without that person here, and they are not here right now." Imagine being called at 11 pm on a Saturday night and being asked,"Did you come and pick up your child? We cannot find him." Then you will be called later and be told, "Oops, I didn't see he was asleep." Independence Center defends physical abuse among residents, stating, "They have to learn to get along. They are behaving like brothers." Please save yourself from the agony we have suffered. read more

This place is run by a bunch of idiots who give attitudes to people with learning disabilities and if you have to get allowance from them they assume shit which is not true I have i even had to do my roommates fucking chores and they didn't give me my allowance that day. They are just a bunch of money greedy bitches who want to have your parents money. This place needs to be shut down. One of my friends almost got sentenced for 20 years because of my roommate who lied about him and Judy who is one of the head staff. The staff there are mentally, psychological and verbally and emotionally abusive to their clients and honestly I know they steal your kids stuff ( who live in the independence center and they probably sell it for cash. read more

This program has made the greatest difference in my child's (and my family's ) life. After a year at the IC, my daughter has become much more autonomous. She is cooking on her own, grocery shopping, rides the bus and is volunteering three days a week. She has become far more calm and happy. All of this has been done with the help of the kind and professional IC staff. There is always someone there to pick up the phone and answer my questions, and we have come to trust them completely. At first, it was hard for us, because we have been so used to protecting her from grown-up stresses. My daughter doesn't always like the rules at the IC, but we both now see how they have helped her to become independent. They seem to know what she is capable of. This is not a 5 star resort and the staff are not hand-servants (nor should they be). We have seen firsthand other parents flip out in an attempt to coddle their children and complain about the rules, which was a great lesson to me in why we brought her here in the first place. Do not bring your child here if you do not want them to grow up. THANK YOU, THANK YOU JUDY, LINDA AND ERIKA! read more

People are treated with respect at the IC however; they are strongly encouraged to do many activities that they do not like. This could include personal hygiene care, showing up for activities, or redirecting behaviors. These are challenging and complicated issues, which places the staff in a position to be the "bad parent." There is no perfect way to work with any of the residents because people with mental health and spectrum symptoms have changing moods and motivational levels. The staff cares deeply for the success of the residents, but not everyone succeeds: some are not ready, not motivated, or have complicated situations. I have seen tremendous devotion and care for the residents while they struggle to grow into their independence. read more