San Pasqual Academy

About This Program

Target Population: Foster care youth in middle school and high school

For children/adolescents ages: 12 – 18

Program Overview

San Pasqual Academy is a residential education campus designed specifically for foster teens, providing a stable, caring home, a quality, individualized education, and the skills needed for independent living. This program is a unique public-private partnership addressing four components of the campus: residential, education, work readiness, and child welfare services.

Program Goals

The goals of the San Pasqual Academy are:

  • Prepare youth for emancipation
  • Assist youth in completing high school
  • Teach independent living skills on a daily basis
  • Provide long-term placement for youth
  • Establish a permanency connection with an adult
  • Create and encourage youth's participation in extracurricular activities

Logic Model

The program representative did not provide information about a Logic Model for San Pasqual Academy.

Essential Components

The essential components of the San Pasqual Academy include:

  • Residential - New Alternatives, Inc. operates the residential program:
    • The residential program provides family-style homes for up to eight youth per cottage.
    • The residential program offers independent living skills and social skills group sessions through the Teen Topics series, after-school activities, Family Day events, and an opportunity for siblings to live together on campus.
    • The residential program runs comprehensive health services, including health education programs, that are available through the campus Health and Wellness Center.
    • The San Pasqual Academy Neighbors (SPAN) intergenerational mentoring program brings foster youth and foster grandparents together in this warm and supportive community.
    • The Alumni Housing program offers on-campus housing and support services to Academy graduates while they pursue their goals, whether the goal is college, vocational education, or work.
  • Education - The San Diego County Office of Education operates the on-site high school program:
    • The curriculum is based on the California education standards and entrance requirements for the University of California and California State University systems.
    • Individualized education plans are developed for students to prepare them for college and/or career training. Computers with Internet access are available in each classroom and a low student/teacher ratio means more personal attention.
    • Extra-curricular activities such as student government, California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) athletics, yearbook and dances are offered through the school, and vocational classes are offered in cooperation with the San Diego Workforce Partnership and the Regional Occupational Program.
  • Work Readiness - The San Diego Workforce Partnership, which consists of Casey Family Programs, ACCESS Inc., and Junior Achievement operates the work readiness program:
    • Services including: tutoring, career counseling, job training and internships, paid part-time employment on campus and in the community, elective school courses such as business skills, computer applications and multimedia skills.
    • They also provide guidance for the Dragon's Lounge, the student-run juice and snack bar.
  • Child Welfare Services - San Diego County Child Welfare Services provides child welfare services:
    • Social workers and a supervisor to handle case management of Academy youths' dependency cases, as well as to advocate in court for the youth.

Program Delivery

Child/Adolescent Services

San Pasqual Academy directly provides services to children/adolescents and addresses the following:

  • Ranges from behavioral issues, such as oppositional/defiance, to self-esteem, peer conflict, and depression.
Services Involve Family/Support Structures:

This program involves the family or other support systems in the individual's treatment: Clinicians on campus may provide conjoint or family therapy, depending on the need of the youth/family.

Recommended Intensity:

Teen Topics can be 30 to 60 minutes per week, depending on the nature of the topic. Youth's length of participation in one-on-one or family therapeutic services will depend on clinical symptoms and goals.

Recommended Duration:

There is no limit on how long a youth can be at San Pasqual Academy. The program is designed to assist youth be in a placement at San Pasqual Academy until they're able to reunify with their parents or when they have reached the age of majority and jurisdiction is terminated.

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

  • Foster / Kinship Care
  • Group or Residential Care

Homework

This program does not include a homework component.

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

  • Residential facility with a school built into it or nearby or houses available to be used for family homes.
  • Service providers readily available on campus
  • Seamless services for youth
  • Collaboration between campus partners/providers to arrange services.

Manuals and Training

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

Each partner on campus require various minimum qualifications, depending on the program requirements. The types of professionals involved in the different partner agencies include credentialed teachers and principal, trained child welfare services staff; licensed clinicians or interns; licensed medical staff; certified Administrators to run residential program; and professional trainers.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Training Information

There is not training available for this program.

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

The following studies were not included in rating San Pasqual Academy on the Scientific Rating Scale...

Jones, L., & Landsverk, J. (2006). Residential education: Examining a new approach for improving outcomes for foster youth. Children and Youth Services Review, 28(10), 1152–1168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2005.10.015

The purpose of the study was to evaluate The Academy [now called San Pasqual Academy (SPA)] in providing a stable home and comprehensive educational program in preparation for emancipation from the foster care system. Participants were all assigned to The Academy. Measures utilized include the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Youth Self Report (YSR), study-developed surveys, child protection services case files, and school data. Results indicate that preliminary outcomes for the first three graduating classes of The Academy are encouraging relative to other published reports of discharged foster youth. School completion and college attendance rates are higher than the rates reported in most other studies. However, non-college bound graduates on average are reporting low incomes and much flux in their housing and employment situations. Youth are also reporting higher rates of substance use than one would expect to find in the general population, but graduates are not reporting any of the criminal justice involvement or victimization found in other studies of discharged foster youth. Limitations include the lack of a control or matched comparison group. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to the lack of a control group.

Jones, L. (2008). Adaptation to early adulthood by a sample of youth discharged from a residential education placement. Child & Youth Care Forum, 37(5-6), 241–263. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-008-9061-7

The study used a subset of the sample from Jones, L., & Landsverk, J. (2006). The purpose of the study was to assess the outcomes of The Academy [now called San Pasqual Academy (SPA)] for students who graduated from the program. Participants were assigned to The Academy and were compared to retrospective comparison groups. Measures utilized include study-developed questionnaires and interviews. Results indicate that 50% of respondents attended college at some point. Youth reported having 2 or 3 jobs a year with at least one bout of unemployment. Most of the non-college-bound youth reported working in low-wage, unskilled jobs that did not appear to be career-oriented. Almost 75% of former residents had at least one connection to the adult world through school, work, or marriage one year after discharge. This rate had climbed to 96% at the 36-month interview. Respondents reported much lower rates of criminal justice involvement, homelessness, and victimization than found in other studies of discharged foster youth. Limitations include a lack of a control group, the use of retrospective data in comparison groups, a small sample size that affects the ability to demonstrate statistically significant relationships, and the reliability of self-reported data. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to the lack of a control group.

Additional References

No reference materials are currently available for San Pasqual Academy.

Contact Information

Takeshi "Tako" Oho
Title: Program Manager
Agency/Affiliation: County of San Diego HHSA
Email:
Phone: (760) 233-6068

Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed by CEBC: January 2024

Date Program Content Last Reviewed by Program Staff: March 2024

Date Program Originally Loaded onto CEBC: April 2012