Overview
The 10-bed adolescent residential treatment program, based in Ventura County, is the most intensive children’s short-term treatment program Casa Pacifica offers. Individualized treatment services tailored to each youth’s needs typically take place over 9 to 12 months and are built on a 24-hour therapeutic environment overseen by a multidisciplinary team of experienced professionals, including licensed mental health staff. Based on a trauma-informed approach to child development, this highly structured experiential program is designed to provide children with emotionally reparative relationships and teach cognitive strategies and social skills that will enable them to live effective and fulfilling lives at home and in the community. In addition, some children in the residential treatment program are enrolled in the campus non-public school.
Who Is Eligible?
The STRTP is designed to help female, transgender, and nonbinary youth ages 12 through 17 seeking placement in a primarily female setting. Their symptoms have often proven too acute for a foster home or other youth care programs and have exhausted all other treatment options in the community. Youth in the STRTP often face challenges like emotional disorders and attachment disorders.
Referrals
Referrals to Cass Pacifica’s STRTP can be made through county child welfare agencies, county probation agencies, and post-adoption services.
For more information please contact Admissions
(805) 366-4000
admissions@casapacifica.org
How STRTP Works
Everything in STRTP is treatment. Casa Pacifica’s STRTP integrates individual and group clinical services, day rehabilitation, and the cottage STEPS to Success Program. Youth progress through five STEPS while in treatment, beginning with orientation and ending with leadership and a transition phase before graduating. Each program staff member has a unique role in creating a therapeutic alliance, and through collaboration, they strengthen our intentional culture and support the therapeutic environment:
- The STRTP is led by a supervising licensed clinician and cottage supervisor that provides individualized, highly accessible mental health services.
- Each youth’s clinician provides coaching and support to Mental Health Workers to collaborate on treatment needs, maintain a trauma-informed culture, and create a rehabilitative environment and program structure.
- Each youth has a primary Mental Health Worker that gets to know them, builds a close relationship with them, takes them on individual outings, spends special time with them, engages them in the program, helps advocate for them within the cottage, coaches them on forming relationships and goal achievement, and is the “go to” person for the youth.
- Therapeutic recreation interventions are offered to all youth on campus daily, after school, evenings and weekends. It is considered part of their daily program and therefore, all youth are encouraged to participate to gain the most out of their treatment. The Recreation Therapy program offers many physical as well as creative interventions.
- STRTP youth also have access to Casa Pacifica’s licensed Health Clinic which offers psychiatric care, medication administration and coordinates medical, dental and specialty services.
Families are encouraged to visit and participate in clinical programming.
Youth ages 16-18 years old may also be referred to our Transitional Youth Services Program (TYS) that helps them prepare for Independent Living. TYS assists youth in making a transition plan, including exploration of living options, employment and career, educational opportunities, community life skills, and personal well-being.
School
Disruptions in residential placement can impact a child’s education, as mental health and safety are prioritized. Once admitted to the STRTP, the youth’s Child and Family Team will explore and determine local school enrollment. Many of the youth admitted to the STRTP enroll in a hybridized school enrollment, attending an off-campus, small-group instruction school site several days per week; and attending remotely from the STRTP, with Mental Health Worker support.
Treatment, Not Placement
In order to promote healthy permanency for systems-referred youth whose mental health needs require robust treatment and supervision, Casa Pacifica’s STRTP is designed as “treatment, not placement”; orienting all services towards discharge to lower levels of care and/or returning to home communities. Youth have a developmentally appropriate role in their care by planning their short-term treatment goals with their clinician, and by participating in Child and Family Team Meetings. Youth have a role in creating rules, regulations and policies that govern their living environments by participating in the cottage “Residential Council.”