Transitional Living Program
Mission
Our goal through the Transitional Program (TLP) is to provide our youth with the opportunity to learn and practice life skills while receiving consistent, but not constant, supervision and guidance for a successful transition into the community and personal independence.
Program
Hermitage House runs both male and female TLP apartments for youth between the ages of 16 and 20 who have exhibited the maturity, trust and responsibility needed to function in this less structured setting. Youth accepted into the program do so after a successful stay in a group home, RTF, or foster home. For those entering HHYS from another facility, a stay within the residential program is needed to show the knowledge and behavioral stability for this program. The goal of TLP is to prepare a youth to live successfully within the community and acquire the skills to do so while residing in a safe and secure environment. Youth in the program often do not have a home to return to and are in need of transition planning services.
Services
Transition services are provided in the areas of life skills, job preparation and/or employment, education, secondary education or vocational planning, money management, proper use of leisure time, substance education and other identified areas of need. Services strive to remove the barriers and facilitate healthy and safe transitions to independence. Although learning skills is important, it is also necessary for youth to practice the skills through everyday life responsibilities. With this in mind, youth live in apartments with up to 2 other youth where they are responsible to prepare a menu, purchase food within their budget, prepare meals, keep their bedroom and apartment clean, use their free time properly, get up for school and/or work in a timely fashion, use social skills in getting along with their roommates, and attend to their daily treatment responsibilities. Staff are available for monitoring, transportation, support, advice, and transition planning.
Planning for the Future
Transition planning begins the day the youth enters TLP. Transition is personalized for each youth addressing the areas of education, housing, health, treatment needs, substances refusal skills, employment, banking and budgeting, and continuing support services.
Not only does transition address life skills but also addresses the ‘soft’ skills needed for a youth to be successful. Therefore, identified needs are addressed in the areas of decision making, conflict resolution, anger control, peer interactions, healthy relationships, communication skills, stress management, coping skills, and other identified needs.
Youth in the TLP program also have access to the services provided by HHYS through their educational, motivational and therapeutic programming.