individual quality of life has been widely used as a frame of reference guiding service provision in social and health services, as well as a critical objective or outcome of these services. yet, the topic of quality of life in the context of child and youth care remains a relatively uncharted territory. this dissertation is based on a practice-oriented project that focuses on bridging the gap between research and practice on the topic of quality of life of adolescents in youth care. this work concentrates on the development, validation, and application of a new self-report tool, grounded in youngsters’ experiences and perceptions, to methodically and systematically assess the quality of life of adolescents in youth care from their own perspectives: the quality of life in youth services scale (qolyss). the qolyss aims to help understand how youngsters perceive, evaluate, and make sense of varying discrete aspects and circumstances of their lives. this line of work offers valuable insights to develop person-centered planning and implement individualized support, tailored to youngsters’ characteristics, perceptions of life, wishes, and expectations. it further helps unveil critical opportunities and barriers regarding a life of quality on the different layers of everyday life of youngsters. the work presented here provides a concrete tool and a number of cross-cutting implications for research, practice and policy when aiming to build quality of life-enhancing environments for youngsters in youth care that help them (re-)claim ownership of their lives and care pathways. chris swerts has a background in social-educational care work and in educational sciences. he is a lecturer at hogent university of applied sciences and arts and senior researcher at the equality//researchcollective (hogent). orthopedagogische reeks gent, nr. 69