Program Outcomes

Due to an increasing demand for services to abused children, YFT found it necessary to asked the Virginia Department of Social Services (DSS) to increase our license capacity five times in the previous eight years. YFT has reached as many as 130 children a year for the past 10 years. Since opening in 1986, more than a thousand children have passed through our doors. Over 70% of the children complete the program and of those, 86% do not return to the behavior that brought them to YFT.
 
Our residents have shown marked educational gains while with us. For example, the average stay for a female resident is 12-15 months. During that period, their academic growth is 2.5 to 3 years. The average stay for a male resident is 9-12 months. During that period, their academic growth is 1.5 to 2 academic years (Source: as measured by the Woodcock Johnson – III Test of Achievement). In addition to the required course content, our professional staff provides significant remediation since many residents enter YFT 2 - 3 academic years behind their chronological grade level.
 
Past graduates of YFT have made the successful transition into society. They work in various professions including a college professor, a forest conservation officer, an owner of a construction business, and a youth pastor. Two graduates now own multimillion dollar high tech companies and others are on the professional staff at YFT. Almost 90% of our most recent graduating classes entered a college or trade school while the remaining students enlisted in the military to serve our country or went directly into the work force.