Youth for Tomorrow
Frequently Asked Questions
Question:
How does Youth for Tomorrow determine a child's Initial service
needs?
Answer:
The Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) contracts with Youth for
Tomorrow (YFT) to assist in the implementation of the Texas Service System. These
statewide services are provided according to procedures approved by DFPS which
includes the use of service definitions.These
definitions were developed by DFPS and approved by the DFPS Board of Directors on
January 29, 2004.
YFT uses these definitions to determine a child's service needs. Clinically trained
professionals from YFT use these definitions to synthesize their knowledge about a
child's psychological and social functioning and then makes a service authorization
(Basic, Moderate, Specialized, or Intense). The service authorization is determined
in the context of a broad review of the clinical information
submitted by the CPS caseworker about the child's social and medical history,
symptomatology, behaviors at home or alternate placements, behaviors in school, and
interpersonal relationships with children and adults.
In addition, the service determination process considers the child's developmental
and chronological age in relation to various risk behaviors. For the most part, the
process does not use a set of pre-defined behaviors to determine a child's service
needs. One of the problems with a pre-defined list is that all behaviors are NOT
the same risk. For example, all runaway behaviors are not considered the same risk.
A 16 year old adolescent who runs away once per month but returns by dinner time is
not the same behavior as that of a 10 year old who runs away once a month and does not
return voluntarily.
Generally, an Initial service authorization depends on the quality of clinical
information submitted by the caseworker or provider, the duration of the presenting
problems, and benefits of recent treatment services.
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