Youth for Tomorrow

Frequently Asked Questions

Question:

How does Youth for Tomorrow determine a child's service needs after they are in placement?

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 that includes the use of the service definitions. These definitions were developed DFPS and approved by the DFPS Board of Directors on January 29, 2004.

YFT uses these definitions to determine a child's current service needs. Clinically trained professionals from YFT use these definitions to synthesize their knowledge about a child's psychological and social functioning and then assign a single service rating (basic, moderate, specialized, or intense). The service authorization is determined in the context of a broad review of the clinical information submitted by the provider about the child's social functioning, behaviors while in placement, behaviors while in school, medical conditions, and interpersonal relationships with children and adults.

Typically, the provider's clinical records include: The 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 defined behaviors or a checklist to determine a child's service needs. For example, all runaway behaviors are not considered the same risk. That is, 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 year and does not return voluntarily.

The review period for determining the current services needed by a child while in placement is the previous 30 days if the child has been in care for more than 30 days. Finally, YFT authorizes Moderate services for 12 months and Specialized or Intense services for 3 months.

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