Residential Treatment Center

Youth For Tomorrow offers residential treatment for girls and boys on our beautiful campus located in Bristow, Virginia, thirty-five miles west of Washington D.C. and only two miles south of the historic city of Manassas, VA. More than 150 residential, therapeutic and education staff provide professional services to the 100+ children. Services include: residential treatment and supervision, case management, clinical services, nursing services, psychiatric services, and education in our State and regionally accredited secondary school. A third of YFT staff are bilingual in Spanish and English.

A child-to-staff ratio of 4:1 allows Youth For Tomorrow to provide treatment while maintaining a level of safety that creates an environment of trust. Video cameras strategically placed throughout the building also support a setting where child safety is the utmost priority. Our home-like setting, and large, open spaces filled with natural light help alleviate the institutional quality often associated with programs featuring this level of intensity and security.

• The YFT Campus Life
• Mental Health Services and Treatment Planning
• Education Services
• Recreation and Activities
• YFT’s Residential Program provides the following services:

Active Supervision

Youth For Tomorrow staff members have a responsibility to protect the health and safety of each resident at all times through process of Active Supervision. Youth For Tomorrow defines ‘active supervision’ as:

1. Staff promote pro-social/appropriate residents behavior (i.e., positive feedback, praise, positive peer culture); and
2. Staff utilize effective and efficient supervision techniques (i.e., de-escalation techniques, non-verbal/verbal redirection).

Orientation

Upon admission, YFT’s resident program provides every resident with a comprehensive orientation that covers the program’s intent, services, rules (written and verbal), and expectations within 72 hours of intake. In addition, YFT provides a Resident Handbook to each resident at intake, which outlines all of the rules and regulations within the program. This handbook is currently provided in Spanish and YFT has the resources to translate the handbook into any language.

Mental Health Services

YFT provides on-site mental health services to include individual, group, and family counseling, clinical assessment, psychiatric assessment, and on-going medication management. Community mental health services are utilized for resident with special needs. Community mental health services include specialized therapy not provided in house, psychological evaluation, crisis intervention, in-patient acute psychiatric care and other clinical interventions as identified by Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services.

Assessments

YFT clinical staff conduct clinical assessments for all residents upon admission and at varying intervals throughout treatment. Assessments ensure the appropriateness of the placement, support treatment planning, and track symptom change over time.

Individual Service Plan

The treatment team develops a comprehensive Individual Treatment Plan for each resident in accordance with the resident’s assessed needs and preferences. ITPs are reviewed on a monthly basis to monitor the resident’s progress in treatment and make any additions or changes to the plan.

Case Management Services

YFT’s residential program provides case management services to all residents. Case managers coordinate all aspects of a resident’s care to ensure that each resident receives the full range of program services based on their assessed treatment needs and in accordance with their individual treatment plan. Each YFT case manager is responsible for meeting weekly with the resident, actively communicating with parents and placing agencies, and facilitating the development and review of the Individual Treatment Plan.

Medical Services

YFT has on-site Registered Nurses and Licensed Nurse Practitioners to ensure that physician’s orders are being followed, medications are distributed appropriately and non-emergency illness and first aid are administered, as needed. Ninety percent of YFT direct care staff receive medication certifications for administering medications 24 hours a day, and are re-certified annually. Novant Health Prince William Medical Center and Fauquier County Hospital provide emergency services, maternity care, surgery, pediatrics, cancer care and behavioral health services.

YFT residents receive psychiatric assessment and on-going medication management from Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist.

Family Reunification and Discharge Planning Services

YFT’s program includes family reunification and discharge planning services.

Education

YFT operates an accredited on-campus private residential school for grade 7-12. The school curriculum is taught by licensed teachers, is licensed by the Virginia State Board of Education (DOE) and accredited through the Virginia Association of Independent Specialized Education Facilities (VA.I.S.E.F.), an accrediting organization of the Virginia Council for Private Education recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia’s State Board of Education. The School is also accredited regionally by AdvancED and is Special Education Certified by the Virginia Department of Education.

The educational program offers a general and special education curriculum. YFT’s educational curriculum includes providing core educational instruction in math, science, English and social studies, approved by the Virginia Department of Education. The school also offers the resident ESOL, music, art and physical education each day. Along with the regular classes, the minors also participate in educational field trips, workshops and enrichment exposure activities.

Recreation and Leisure

YFT’s residential program ensures that residents participate in activities according to a recreation and leisure time plan that includes daily outdoor activities, weather permitting, of at least one hour per day of large muscle activity and one hour per day of structured leisure time activities that does not include watching television. Activities will be developmentally and age appropriate. Television, movies and video games will not be used as a substitute for recreational activities.

Visitation/Phone Calls

Residents have the right to make phone calls to approved family members. It is important the YFT residents have weekly contact with family members or other significant individuals in preparation for discharge.

Vocational Educational Training Program and/or Activities

YFT’s resident program has structured vocational trainings in useful and appropriate skills, such as computer and other technological training, gardening, or cooking skills. Weekly vocational training is equally available to boys and girls during the school day or within the residential setting.

Nursing

Youth For Tomorrow has a 24/7 on campus Nursing Department serving its residents. The department serves a unique role stemming from sound education and delivers knowledge and care to support evidence-based practices. We deliver psychiatric, preventive, and primary care from infants to teens.

We work as a multi-disciplinary team utilizing the patient-centered care method to evaluate patient changes and modify the patient’s treatment plan appropriately. Our children come from different walks of life and have been exposed to violent crimes and abuse. Our practice utilizes standards, guidelines, and pathways to execute nursing interventions and evaluate their effectiveness. We perform mental health assessments to identify triggers, trauma, and high-risk symptoms/behaviors. Some of which include suicidal risks, homicidal risks, and abuse.

The Nursing Department understands the impact trauma can have on children; we integrate skills, education, and emotional support to maintain a healing environment. Our goal is to provide compassionate care, achieve health promotion and disease prevention for all residents at Youth for Tomorrow.

Our goal is to return children to a less restrictive environment to continue their progress through, intensive in-home services, with their family when possible, or therapeutic foster care when it is not.

If you are considering referring a child to Youth For Tomorrow, please learn about admission guidelines, location and funding considerations and complete a brief referral questionnaire.