Progress and Challenges in Conducting Research with Hard-to-Reach Youth and Young Adult Populations

In this roundtable session, panelists will engage with the audience around the challenges of collecting data with at-risk hard-to-reach populations of youth and young adults. This is intended for those who wish to learn more about research strategies with youth and young adults who are involved with public systems (e.g., child welfare; mental health; juvenile justice) as well as those who may be disconnected from any system or sources of support (e.g., homeless youth).

As recent research efforts have expanded to encompass direct contact with vulnerable populations, the challenges associated with these approaches have become apparent. Therefore, it is critical for researchers to better understand how to: (1) address recruitment and outreach strategies with hard-to-reach populations, and how to engage community members in this process; (2) recognize and resolve issues around consent/assent and related ethical concerns (e.g., navigating compensation arrangements); (3) address the practical logistics of data collection; and (4) how to maintain contact with youth participants for potential follow-up activities. In addition, as many youth are being served by public systems of care, learning how to collaborate with these systems as research partners is also essential.

The roundtable session will begin with brief presentations by four researchers who each have extensive firsthand research experience with specific youth or young adult at-risk populations. Collectively, the panelists have interfaced with numerous state and local system affiliates and staff, as well as several dozen youth and young adults. As a result, this panel has intimate knowledge of the intricacies of the research process and working with system ‘gatekeepers.’ They can also speak to the tremendous benefits of research with hard-to-reach populations, namely, the contribution to local and state agencies in fostering policy and programmatic changes and the overall effort to involve vulnerable populations in community building. 

The goal of these presentations is to provide an in-depth overview of the lessons learned from their recent research efforts so that audience members can enhance their own data collection strategies with hard-to-reach youth and young adults. As such, this session will also allow ample time for audience members to engage with the panel about troubleshooting specific problems and challenges they are having or for planning for their own data collection activities.

The first panelist is a child welfare researcher who has overseen multiple federal and state research initiatives that entail direct data collection efforts with youth involved with or recently emancipated from the child welfare system. The second panelist has conducted numerous mixed-methods research investigations with child welfare youth, disengaged young adults, youth residing in urban public housing systems, and youth involved with public mental health systems. The third panelist has considerable experience collecting data from youth at risk of homelessness, young, unmarried fathers, and middle-school youth in an urban city public school. She also consults on multiple nationwide research projects. The fourth panelist has several years of experience in conducting data collection with youth in juvenile corrections facilities and young adults who have exited the system and are currently residing in the community.