Children's Division

National Youth in Transition Database

In 1999, the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) was established which provides States flexible funding to carry out independent living programs that assist youth in care as well as those transitioning to adulthood.  The law also requires the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to develop a data collection system to track the independent living services provided to youth and to develop outcomes that measure States' performance in preparing youth for their transition from foster care to independent living.  To meet this requirement, ACF published a proposed rule in the Federal Register in July 2006 and issued a final rule in February 2008.  The data collection system is called the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD).

Compliance and Reporting Standards

To comply with NYTD standards, States’ data submissions must meet certain file format requirements and data accuracy standards.  States must also meet a youth participation rate standard for the NYTD outcomes survey.  States that do not comply with these data standards, may be penalized between one and five percent of their annual Chafee Foster Care Independence Program allotment.  The State agency must report outcome information on at least 80% of the youth who are in foster care and at least 60% of the youth who are not in foster care (discharged) on the date of outcomes data collection.  These percentages apply to outcomes data collection for the follow-up population.  States will also report financial assistance they provide, including assistance for education, room and board and other aid.  Data on our states independent living services will be collected continuously.  States must begin collecting NYTD data on October 1, 2010 and must transmit their first semiannual data file no later than May 15, 2011.  NYTD will follow the same reporting schedule as AFCARS.

Reporting Population 

The served population is each youth who receives an independent living service paid for or provided by the CFCIP agency during the reporting (six month) period regardless of age, foster care status, or placement type.  This does not have to be a service provided by utilizing Chafee funds.  If it is a service that is an independent living service that is paid for or provided by the State agency in a six-month report period, then the State is required to report it.  In Missouri, the served population for reporting would be youth 14-21 in care and those youth that obtained legal guardianship or adoption after the age of sixteen.

Reporting Activities

The NYTD regulation requires States to engage in two data collection and reporting activities.  First, States will collect and report basic demographic data on each youth and the independent living (IL) services provided to them by the State in thirteen broad categories:

Second, States will conduct a baseline survey of youth in foster care at age 17 and will conduct a follow-up survey with these youth at ages 19 and 21 to collect and report information about the following youth outcomes:

States are to collect the outcomes information by conducting a survey of youth in foster care on or around their 17th birthday, also referred to as the baseline population. States will track these youth as they age and conduct a new outcome survey on or around the youth's 19th birthday; and again on or around the youth's 21st birthday, also referred to as the follow-up population. States will collect outcomes information on these older youth after they leave the State's foster care system, regardless of whether they are still receiving independent living services from the State when they are 19 or 21 years old. All States will collect and report outcome information on a new cohort of youth every three years. As all outcome information with the exception of demographics must be obtained directly from the youth and reflect the youth's provided response and not information obtained from other databases from other agencies, strategies must be in place for surveying youth.

Youth in foster care turning 17 from October 1, 2010 until September 30, 2011 are eligible to complete the survey within 45 days of their 17th birthday.  The survey may be viewed and printed here:  NYTD Older Youth Survey Microsoft Word Document

Completed survey’s may be mailed to:

Children’s Division
Older Youth Program
PO Box 88
Jefferson City, MO 65103