The NSYC consists of an audio computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI) in which youth, using a touchscreen, interact with a computerized questionnaire and follow audio instructions delivered via headphones. The NSYC used self-administered procedures to ensure the confidentiality of the reporting youth and to encourage fuller reporting of victimization. The survey made use of audio technology to provide assistance to youth with varying levels of literacy and language skills.

Administrators in each state, county, and private facility determined the type of consent required for youth to be eligible for participation. In the 2012 survey, administrators provided in loco parentis (ILP) consent in 127 facilities. ILP is when administrators provide consent in the place of the parent to contact youth. Administrators required parental or guardian consent (PGC) from youth in 160 facilities and a mixture of ILP and PGC in 39 facilities. Youth in all facilities also had to assent to participate in the interview.

In each sampled ILP facility, administrators were asked 5 weeks prior to data collection to provide a roster of all adjudicated youth assigned a bed; in other facilities, a roster was provided 9 weeks prior to data collection. Rosters were updated weekly, up to 2 weeks prior to the collection, to reflect youth who were subsequently admitted or discharged from each facility.

Interviewing capacity at each facility was assessed based on the number of available days, interviewing rooms, and interviewers. In facilities determined to have sufficient capacity, all eligible youth were selected. In other facilities, youth were randomly subsampled so the number of youth did not exceed interviewing capacity.

The result of this process yielded a sample of 22,944 adjudicated youth. Among these individuals, 5,402 left prior to the interview team arriving at the facility and 940 were excluded based on subsampling within the facility. Once the discharges and excluded cases were removed from the pool of selected youth, 16,602 youth remained eligible for the survey. A total of 9,703 youth participated in the survey. Of these, 996 received an alternative survey on drug and alcohol use and treatment, and 8,707 youth participated in the survey of sexual victimization.