A tracking system which monitors Allegheny County (Pennsylvania) mentally retarded students leaving the school system to make their transition to adult life, was developed to: (1) enhance the prospects for successful follow-up; (2) enable program planners to conduct systematic inquiries regarding the abilities, living arrangements, and work situations of youth in transition; (3) supply service providers with valuable subfiles of mentally retarded youth in various circumstances of need; and (4) facilitate research on the problems and opportunities of such youth. The tracking system is designed to be used with two types of software: "dBaseIII+" for data entry and database management, and "SPSS/PC+" for statistical analysis. The system has mechanisms for achieving initial data collection, follow-up interview data collection, file standardization, and data analysis. A user's guide to the tracking system which outlines the options from which the user can construct a suitable tracking "package," and delineates the commands and procedures the tracking system uses to perform specific tasks, is provided. Technical notes, codebooks, diagrams of data entry screens, and a summary of the "dBase" file structure are contained in the appendix. (JDD)