Transitional Living Program...
Pentz Run Youth Services is committed to
providing a safe, secure, nurturing environment for male and female
youth that require short or long-term alternatives to family living.
The group home and shelter have been thriving for several years serving
youth ages 10-18. The Transitional Living program will allow youth
who are aging out of the system the choice to remain in the care of
Children and Youth or Juvenile Probation agencies while gaining the
independence they desire. This program is also designed to allow
college bound youth to live on their own while still relying on the
support of their placing agency.
Program Description
Many youth who have been in foster care or
other out of home placements have not had the support systems necessary
to learn skills needed to live on their own. Often, these youth
who have been protected by agencies for years, suddenly find themselves
on their own with no support. The goal of the Transitional Living
program is to assist these youth in learning the necessary skills to
live on their own while still providing them with supervision, guidance
and structure. Youth will have the opportunity to “learn while
doing” as they begin practicing independent living skills.
The transitional Living program is designed
specifically for youth who are under the age of 21 and who are in need
of intensive support services in order to gain independence. The
semi-supervised transitional living setting provides youth room and
board while they are working to reach their goals. Support staff
are available to the youth 24 hours a day to assist the them with daily
needs, transportation to and from appointments, school and/or work and
learning to manage an apartment on their own. The Youth live on
their own or with a roommate in the apartment, this program is not
recommended for youth who are unable to be left alone.
We continue to follow 3800 PA Department of
Public Welfare regulations in order to maintain a quality, consistent
and licensed program. The youth will receive all necessary
medical, dental, vision and mental health services and will have a
treatment plan to follow. The program is designed for long-term
care allowing the youth to develop all the skills necessary to avoid
homelessness in the future as well as completion of continuing education
or job training.
The program will be open to youth
transitioning from Pentz Run’s group home as well as other youth who may
be referred and meet the eligibility requirements.
Pentz Run’s Philosophy
Our mission statement has always been to
provide a safe, secure, nurturing environment for male and female youth
that require short or long-term alternatives to family living. We are
committed to giving youth the opportunity to grow socially,
intellectually, physically, morally and spiritually.
Our current program consists of residential
services for adolescents who are placed by county Children & Youth
Services or Juvenile Probation agencies. These youth are placed
for a variety of reasons including but not limited to, homelessness,
abuse, neglect, truancy, lack of supervision, drug & alcohol use, mental
health concerns and criminal activity. We work with the youth
while they are in our care to help them successfully return to their
homes. There are times, however when a youth is doing well within
our program or even in the community and simply needs assistance in the
transition to adulthood because they lack traditional support systems.
Many youth in the CYS/foster care and/or Juvenile Justice systems lack
the necessary supports to make a smooth transition. Our
residential services will now include these older youth who need to
focus on learning to live on their own. The new services will
concentrate on those skills needed to sustain a residence independently
including: job skills, cooking, cleaning, budgeting, self-care, time
management, decision making and many other important elements of
independent living.
Goals:
Our main goal is to integrate the services
that we have been providing successfully for years. We plan to
continue to maintain both the group home/shelter and the Independent
Living program with the addition of the Transitional Living facility
which will is licensed through the Department of Public Welfare.
During their stay, the youth will learn to
learn to maintain a home on their own while also building employment and
social skills, as well as exploring options for higher education.
The expected transition for the youth would
be for them to go out on their own or move to an apartment of their own
with continued support from Pentz Run.
Many residents of Pentz Run’s group home
would be able to transition into the transitional living facility and as
a result learn more advanced skills for the next stage of their lives.
The length of time that youth will be able to
stay at the transitional living facility will vary from 6 to 18 months with exceptions for longer
stays made on an as needed and individual basis.
This would also enable us to serve youth up
to the age of 21.
Admission Criteria:
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Youth must be under 21 years old and in need of independent living assistance.
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Youth must be able to live in a semi-supervised setting where they will be spending the majority of time on their own.
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Child health and safety, child development and parenting skills if the child has a child living with them
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This training program will be facilitated at Pentz Run Youth Services, where the youth will reside for up to 30 days until they are able to demonstrate competency in these areas.
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