About NYTD

Background

The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-169) establishes the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP), now known as the Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood (Chafee Program), in amendment to section 477 of the Social Security Act. The Chafee Program provides states with flexible funding to carry out programs that assist youth in making the transition from foster care to a healthy and self-sufficient adulthood. The law also requires the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to develop a data collection system to track the independent living services States provide to youth and develop outcome measures that may be used to assess States' performance in operating their independent living programs. The law also requires ACF to impose a penalty of between one and five percent of the State's annual allotment on any State that fails to comply with the reporting requirements.

Overview

To meet the law's mandate, ACF published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on July 14, 2006, and a final rule on February 26, 2008. The regulation establishes the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) and requires that States engage in two data collection activities. First, States are to collect information on each youth who receives independent living services paid for or provided by the State agency that administers the Chafee Program. Second, States are to collect demographic and outcome information on certain youth in foster care whom the State will follow over time to collect additional outcome information. This information will allow ACF to track which independent living services States provide and assess the collective outcomes of youth.

Pursuant to the regulation, States begin collecting data for NYTD on October 1, 2010, and reports data to ACF semiannually. The first submission of data to ACF occurred on May 15, 2011.

Information on NYTD Services

The regulation requires that States report to ACF the independent living services and supports they provide to all youth in eleven broad categories: independent living needs assessment; academic support; post-secondary educational support; career preparation; employment programs or vocational training; budget and financial management; housing education and home management training; health education and risk prevention; family support and healthy marriage education; mentoring; and supervised independent living. States will also report financial assistance they provide, including assistance for education, room and board and other aid.

Information on NYTD Outcomes

States will survey youth regarding six outcomes: financial self-sufficiency, experience with homelessness, educational attainment, positive connections with adults, high-risk behavior, and access to health insurance.

Additionally, States collect 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 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 collect outcomes information on these older youth at ages 19 or 21 regardless of their foster care status or whether they are still receiving independent living services from the State. Depending on the size of the State's foster care youth population, some States may conduct a random sample of the baseline population of the 17-year-olds that participate in the outcomes survey so that they can follow a smaller group of youth as they age.  All States collect and report outcome information on a new baseline population cohort every three years.

Information Describing the Youth

For every youth reported to NYTD, a State must use an encrypted identification number that is the same as the identifier used to report information on the young person to the Adop