_{Santa Clara County and Seneca staff, including Seneca CEO Leticia Galyean (fourth from left) and County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas (fourth from right), tour the county’s first E-STRTP.}

A sobering 94% of youth in California say they experience frequent mental health challenges, according to a 2025 report from Blue Shield of California. These recent findings mark an increase from 87% in 2023. Seneca and the County of Santa Clara have partnered to address the urgent and developing needs of families in the Bay Area – focusing on youth who need long-term support.

Thanks to this collaboration, Santa Clara County is now home to its first Enhanced Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (E-STRTP). Seneca’s E-STRTPs combine therapeutic structure with a warm, nurturing environment to ensure young people feel safe, cared for, and understood while receiving treatment. This new location will serve youth ages 10-17 who have complex care needs – typically after experiencing a recent crisis. The program will work with up to two youth at a time, with an anticipated average stay of six months, to ensure they receive individualized, quality care.

These efforts have been championed by County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, who says the new E-STRTP will fill a critical needs gap in the community. 

“By investing in trauma-informed care, we’re disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline and supporting at-risk youth entering our child welfare system,” said Supervisor Arenas, who represents District 1 on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. “Seneca’s Enhanced Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program provides a safe, structured home environment to support youth with complex behavioral health needs through specialized treatment. I’m proud to have led the call to bring this kind of care to our County again and grateful for dedicated partners like Seneca.” 

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For Seneca CEO Leticia Galyean, LCSW, this new E-STRTP represents a continued – and crucial – investment in helping local youth in and through crises. 

“Our Enhanced Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Programs are designed specifically for an often-underserved group of young people – those who require urgent, intensive, and short-term treatment to stabilize high-risk behaviors,” Galyean explains. “We are grateful for Supervisor Arenas and the Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Services Department for trusting Seneca to support these youth and their families, and we know this will have a positive impact on the community for years to come!” 

Seneca currently operates E-STRTPs in both Alameda and Monterey Counties, as well. This approach is grounded in collaboration with families, schools, and community partners, so young people can experience consistent care across every part of their lives – and be set up for success moving forward. 

There is an urgent need for E-STRTP programs in the Bay Area. Santa Clara County has partnered with Seneca for many years to build a continuum of care to serve the highest-need youth in the area. This suite of services includes: 

• Wraparound
• Foster Care
• Emergency Short-Term Care
• Juvenile Justice Services
• Outpatient Support
• Visitation Facilitation 
• Prevention Services 

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The new E-STRTP would not have been possible without the advocacy of Supervisor Arenas and her unwavering commitment to our shared mission of Unconditional Care. Together, with Santa Clara County and other community partners, we will continue doing whatever it takes to meet the needs of youth and families during their most challenging moments. 

For more information about Seneca’s services in Santa Clara County, please contact [email protected].