	National Youth in Transition Database

		Background

Research on former foster youth is limited and most of the studies on outcomes for these youth face methodological challenges. However, two studies—the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study and the Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth—have tracked outcomes for a sample of youth across several domains, either prospectively (following youth in care and as they age out and beyond) or retrospectively (examining current outcomes for young adults who were in care at least a few years ago), and compared these outcomes to other groups of youth, either those who aged out and/or youth in the general population. Nonetheless, these studies focus only on youth who were in foster care in four states. The 1999 law ( P.L. 106-169 ) authorizing the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) required that HHS develop a data system to capture the characteristics and experiences of certain current and former foster youth across the country. The law directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to consult with state and local public officials responsible for administering independent living and other child welfare programs, child welfare advocates, Members of Congress, youth service providers, and researchers to (1) "develop outcome measures (including measures of educational attainment, high school diploma, avoidance of dependency, homelessness, non-marital childbirth, incarceration, and high risk behaviors) that can be used to assess the performances of States in operating independent living programs"; and (2) identify the data needed to track the number and characteristics of children receiving independent living services, the type of services provided, and state performance on the measures. In response to these requirements, HHS created the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD). The final rule establishing the NYTD became effective April 28, 2008, and it required states to report data to HHS on youth beginning in FY2011. This report provides summary and detailed data for FY2011 through FY2013. First, states report information twice each fiscal year on eligible youth who currently receive independent living services regardless of whether they continue to remain in foster care, were in foster care in another state, or received child welfare services through an Indian tribe or privately operated foster care program. These youth are known as served youth . Second, states report information on foster youth on or about their 17 th birthday, two years later on or about their 19 th birthday, and again on or about their 21 st birthday. In this second group, foster youth at age 17 are known as the baseline youth, and at ages 19 and 21 they are known as the follow-up youth (and are also referred to as tracked youth in this report). These current and former foster youth are tracked regardless of whether they receive independent living services at ages 17, 19, and 21. Served Youth

 Table 1 includes an overview of data on the served youth who received an independent living service and the type of services they received for each of FY2011 through FY2013. The number of youth receiving an independent living service in each of those years ranged from about 97,500 to nearly 102,000. Follow-Up Youth

 Table 2 summarizes the characteristics and outcomes of the 19-year-old follow-up youth in FY2013. Figure 2 includes data on selected outcomes for youth in foster care and those who are no longer in foster care. Financial Self-Sufficiency

About one-third of youth were working full-time and/or part-time at age 19; however, youth in foster care were more likely to be working part-time and youth not in foster care or not receiving any independent living service were slightly more likely to be working full-time. Positive Connections with Adults

Almost all youth at age 19—regardless of foster care status or receipt of independent living services—said that they had a positive connection to an adult who could serve in a mentoring or substitute parent role, including a relative, former foster parent, birth parent, or older member of the community. (Nearly all youth had reported the same when they were surveyed at age 17.) Homelessness and High-Risk Behaviors

Most of the 19-year-old youth had not experienced homelessness in their lifetime, and youth in foster care were much less likely to report being homeless than the other groups (11% versus 18%-24%). Youth in care at age 19 were also less likely to report having been incarcerated (14% versus 20%-29%).
Congress has long been concerned with the well-being of older youth in foster care and those who have recently emancipated from care without going to a permanent home. Research on this population is fairly limited, and the few studies that are available have focused on youth who live in a small number of states. This research has generally found that youth who spend time in foster care during their teenage years tend to have difficulty as they enter adulthood and beyond.
The Chafee Foster Care Independence Act (P.L. 106-169), enacted in 1999, specified that state child welfare agencies provide additional supports to youth transitioning from foster care under the newly created Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP). The law also directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which administers child welfare programs, to consult with stakeholders to develop a national data system on the number, characteristics, and outcomes of current and former foster youth. In response to these requirements, HHS created the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) under a final rule promulgated in 2008. The rule requires that each state child welfare agency commence collecting and reporting the data beginning in FY2011 (October 1, 2010).
This report provides summary and detailed data about current and former foster youth, as reported by states to HHS via the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD). Data are available on two sets of youth. First, states report information each fiscal year on eligible youth who currently receive independent living services regardless of whether they continue to remain in foster care, were in foster care in another state, or received child welfare services through an Indian tribe or privately operated foster care program. These youth are known as served youth. Data on served youth are intended to show how many youth received independent living services. Second, states report information on foster youth on or about their 17th birthday, on or about their 19th birthday, and on or about their 21st birthday. This reported information is based primarily on data collected through surveys of the youth. In this second group, foster youth at age 17 are known as the baseline youth, and at ages 19 and 21 they are known as the follow-up youth. Data from the tracked population of youth are intended to show education, work, health, and other outcomes of youth who were in foster care at age 17. These current and former foster youth are tracked regardless of whether they receive independent living services at ages 17, 19, and 21.
As noted, states began reporting NYTD data to HHS for served and baseline youth in FY2011. The data in this report include those for served youth in FY2011 through FY2013 and for follow-up youth for FY2013. Between 97,000 and 102,000 youth received an independent living service in each of FY2011 through FY2013. The median age of these youth was 18. In each of the three years, the most common independent living services they received were academic support, career preparation, and education about housing and home management. Approximately 7,500 follow-up youth were surveyed about their outcomes at age 19. About one-third of youth were working full-time and/or part-time. Just over half (54%) were enrolled in school. Almost all of the youth had a positive connection with an adult who could serve in a mentoring or substitute parent role. Most youth had not experienced homelessness or incarceration in their lifetimes. The majority of youth had Medicaid or some other health insurance. However, youth who were no longer in foster care tended to have more negative outcomes on certain indicators. For example, youth in foster care were much less likely to report ever having been homeless compared to youth who left care (11% versus 24%). Likewise, they were less likely to report having ever been incarcerated compared to these same peers (14% versus 29%).