Staying Connected With Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care: "Thank You for Not Giving Up on Me"

This journal article focuses on how to overcome the challenges researchers face when trying to locate and retain study participants among the transitioning youth population. The researchers retained 80 percent of the eligible youth from a baseline population (n=223) to participate in the second wave of their study two years later. The study collected data about the participants' experiences as they aged out of foster care. The authors present approaches on how to stay connected with transient and vulnerable youth who participate in longitudinal research studies. They emphasize the importance of encouraging youth involvement in all phases of the research process. (author abstract modified)