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Nationally, the outcomes for youth aging out of foster care are dismal. Most children leaving foster care do not have the financial, medical, or social support tools necessary to bridge this transition successfully, placing a significant burden on youth leaving care (Courtney, Piliavin, Grogan, & Nesmith in Child Welfare 80:685–717, 2001; Kools & Kennedy in Pediatric Nursing 29(1):39–45, 2003; Simms, Dubowitz, & Szilagyi in Pediatrics 106:909–918, 2000). Given the poor outcomes for youth aging out of foster care, and the small body of literature on what works to improve outcomes, the purpose of this study was twofold. First to examine youth characteristics associated with better outcomes, and secondly to explore what program characteristics were correlated with outcomes. A causal comparative research design was used, employing pre-existing data. Records were collected from an agency in a large urban …