Discussion
This study combines two sources of information on maltreatment prior to and during out-of-home care for a sample of foster youth who reached the age of majority in out-of-home care in one state. These data sources represent two of the best sources of information on maltreatment for this subgroup of foster youth. Together they reveal alarming rates of maltreatment prior to and during out-of-home care and large disparities between official investigated and self-reports of maltreatment. Though this study's findings add to our understanding of the types of discrepancies that exist in maltreatment reporting and the extent of maltreatment that is experienced by this subgroup of foster youth, the limitations of this study should be considered carefully.