STRIVE TRACK
Safety, Transition, Responsibility, Independence, Values, Empowerment
The STRIVE Track creates a unique treatment experience for students who may not need the typical Residential Treatment Center (RTC) level of care. Upon admission, all students will be eligible for the STRIVE Track, with guidelines for those who will qualify. If a student is approved for the STRIVE Track, they will move to Mosaic House, the transition home around their three-month mark. STRIVE students may stay in the program for the typical length of stay but will spend the majority of their time with us focusing on transitional living skills. They will continue to receive all educational and clinical services but residentially, they will have more opportunities to live autonomously. Students who do not meet the STRIVE Track requirements may still move to Mosaic House on a traditional track when approved by the treatment team.
Mosaic House-Our Transitional Home
At Mosaic House, our transitional home, we understand the importance of a gradual transition for students from a highly structured environment to one with more freedom. We recognize that abruptly exposing students to an environment with minimal structure and high freedom can overwhelm their coping skills. Therefore, we place great emphasis on the transition period in our program before students move on to the next part of their journey.
During the transition phase, we purposefully introduce challenges that allow them to gain experience in dealing with the typical day-to-day obstacles, both within and outside of our program. The transition period serves as an important bridge between the highly structured environment of La Europa and the more independent settings they will encounter in their future endeavors.
Our primary goal, before graduation, is to ensure that each student can implement, practice, and demonstrate mastery of DBT and other life skills they have learned while at Mosaic House. We recognize that they have learned and practiced these skills in a structured and supportive setting, nevertheless, we believe students must be challenged to apply these skills in new settings as well.
By gradually introducing more freedom and responsibility, we aim to prepare our students for the realities of life outside our program. We want to ensure they are equipped with the necessary skills to adapt and navigate various environments to successfully manage the challenges they may encounter.
While in the transitional phase, students will have the opportunity to
- Practice newly learned skills in 'real-life' situations
- Solidify their identity and understanding of who they are before returning home to friends and family where pressure to revert to old behaviors or patterns is strongest.
- Experience age-appropriate challenges as they are gradually given more freedoms and privileges.
- Accept daily coaching from staff and peer mentors.
- Strengthen their tolerance and ability to accept when their parents hold boundaries with them. We understand it is difficult for parents at home to maintain the level of containment many students need to gradually shift from the restrictive treatment experience to being a typical teenager at home.
- Increase internal motivation and commitment to healthy behaviors.
- Use effective coping skills.
- Learn to handle a setback when they accidentally lapse into old pattern behavior.
- Appropriately handle the use of technology once introduced.
Life at Mosaic House
Mosaic House is a 15-bed, nurturing home-like environment located a half-mile east of the La Europa Campus. Mosaic House offers an environment for students to work on their own individualized transition goals. Students living at Mosaic House attend school and participate in individual, family, and group therapy at the main La Europa campus. As they face daily challenges, students can receive support from both the staff and their peers at Mosaic House in order to maintain their forward momentum.
Life skills that students work on while at Mosaic House include, but are not limited to:
- Food preparation and menu planning
- Time management
- Understanding internet dangers and internet safety
- Establishing healthy boundaries with technology use Utilizing community resources
- Volunteering in the community
- Creating a resume and interviewing for a job
- Managing responsibilities with a job
- Money Management
- Independence off campus without staff supervision
Home visits:
Home Visits Are Important to Transition
We want our parents to be prepared to have their students return home. The transition period provides a place for students and their families to practice new skills they have learned as a family unit. During home visits, families work on practicing new skills, finding a therapist, community group, and school so that transition back home is as smooth as possible.
