A Brief History of NYTD

Each year thousands of young people are discharged from State foster care systems because they reach the age at which they are no longer eligible for out-of-home placement. During the early 1980's, research and anecdotal evidence indicated that many young people who emancipated from foster care experienced numerous difficulties in their attempts to achieve self-sufficiency, including homelessness, unemployment, victimization, and dependence on public assistance.

In response to this problem, a law was passed in 1986 which provided funding to make independent living services available to youth in foster care between the ages of 16 and 21. Several improvements were made to the law by the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999. This law established the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP). The Foster Care Independence Act provides States with greater funding and flexibility to carry out programs to assist youth in making the transition from foster care to self-sufficiency.

As part of the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is required to develop and implement a data collection system to (1) track the independent living services States provide to youth, and (2) develop outcome measures that may be used to assess State performance in operating their independent living programs. The data collection system is called the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD).

For more information about the history or final rule on NYTD, click here.