The Progress Foundation Diversion Evaluation Team (DET)
In San Francisco clients are evaluated by our specialized Diversion Evaluation Team (DET) which provides an initial evaluation in the local psychiatric emergency clinic and acts as an advocate to ensure that clients who can benefit from our services have an effective option to avoid involuntary hospitalization. The team is on duty 7 days per week. To contact DET or obtain referral information please call Erin Williams, Deputy Director of Clinical Services at 415-861-0828.


Crisis Residential Programs (ADU’s)
Our Crisis Residential Treatment programs, intensive 24-hour therapeutic environments, have been dubbed ADU’s or “Acute Diversion Units” by Community Mental Health because of their critical “diversion” role in the overall County healthcare system. Working closely with local psychiatric emergency clinics, the ADUs provide primary diversion from, and an alternative to, psychiatric in-patient confinement. Currently Progress Foundation Crisis Residential Treatment programs are in the California cities of San Francisco, Napa and Santa Rosa.

All Crisis Residential Treatment programs (ADU’s) are open to individuals who have a major mental health diagnosis and may also have a co-occurring substance abuse and/or physical health challenge.

Our programs are housed in large single family homes in residential neighborhoods. The facilities blend in with the other homes and are not outwardly identified as mental health programs. Clients work through psychiatric crises and experience short-term treatment (typically ten to fifteen days) without the stigma and trauma of an institutional placement. Client participation in the operation of the household including the planning of activities, household cleaning, meal preparation and grocery shopping, provides unique opportunities to build and practice life skills needed for successful independent living. Group meetings held daily address important topics such as money management, family relationships, relapse prevention, finding healthy recreational activities and medication education.

The ADU’s are 2 week programs where clients receive skills training and crisis intervention, while working on short term goals in their treatment plan. All ADU’s have structured comprehensive in-house Day Treatment programs that include medication management by a Psychiatrist and primary health screening and ambulatory care by a Nurse Practitioner. The staff work with clients to resolve crises, improve interpersonal skills, and to help clients develop effective treatment plans that are goal-oriented and time-limited. Each day has a structured schedule with group and individual activities, including money management, medication education, symptom management and community outings.

Each Progress Foundation Crisis Residential Treatment Program has a Consultant Psychiatrist who both prescribes and monitors the effects of psychiatric medications for clients who voluntarily use them. In addition, many clients referred to the ADU’s have physical health conditions that have gone undetected or untreated due to lack of access to primary health care. Nurse Practitioners are in each ADU weekly to provide health screenings, health education on topics such as nutrition, smoking cessation, and the management of diabetes, and to treat general illnesses and injuries that do not require medical hospitalization.

All Crisis Residential Treatment programs provide services to persons 18 years old and older.

Click here for a list and description of Crisis Residential Programs


Transitional Residential Treatment Programs
Transitional programs offer the next level of care in the agency’s continuum of services. The clients are able to stay longer, between 3 months and 1 year depending on the program, so each client receives individualized support to maintain their stability and to work on long-term goals. All transitional programs are open to individuals who are eighteen years old and older, and may be dually-diagnosed with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders. As in the ADU’s, clients are active in the operation of the household. There is a structured schedule for program services, and some clients are participating in individual activities such as job training, school, work or day treatment as determined by their individual treatment plans. Much of the client’s treatment planning focuses on developing social skills and coping strategies, finding housing and securing ongoing services and supports in preparation for discharge from the program.

Many clients referred to our programs have physical health conditions that have gone untreated due to lack of access to appropriate health care. Nurse Practitioners are in each program weekly to provide health screenings, health education on topics such as nutrition, smoking cessation, and the management of diabetes, and to treat general illnesses and injuries that do not require medical hospitalization.

Progress Foundation provides specialized Transitional Residential Treatment services at the Seniors Program, Clay Street, and Ashbury House.

The Seniors program is 2 six-bed houses for adults over 60, that serves a total of 12 clients in residence and another 12 clients who attend day treatment only. Clients stay on average for 4-6 months. When this program was opened it was the first social model residential alternative to psychiatric institutionalization for geriatric clients in the country. Prior to the Seniors program, the mental health system did not offer services to older adults that emphasized building skills for maintaining independence, rather seniors were often referred into board and care homes or skilled nursing facilities before it was really necessary. The Progress Foundation Seniors Program gives older adults with mental illness the opportunity to live more independently later in life, and to learn new living skills required due to long-term or emergent serious mental illness.

Clay Street and Dorine Loso House are programs designed specifically for individuals leaving long term institutionalization in locked facilities who need the support of a transitional program before moving on to more independent living. Clients living in institutional settings are allowed to exercise very little power to make decisions about their lives and have few opportunities to learn and use life skills to increase their independence. Clay Street and Loso House are year long programs where clients can unlearn institutional behaviors and build their skills and support networks in order to live more independent lives in the community.

Ashbury House is a program for mothers who have lost custody or are in danger of losing custody of their child(ren) due to their mental illness. Like the Seniors Program, when Ashbury House opened in 1995 it was the first program of its kind in the country. Prior to it’s opening, mothers were not allowed to keep their children with them while in a residential treatment program, and if a mother needed that level of mental health treatment she was forced to give up her children. Ashbury is a year long program where clients not only learn to manage their mental illness and improve life skills, but they also learn parenting skills, well-baby care, and how to identify and develop strategies for times when their mental illness may negatively impact their parenting.

Click here for a list and description of each Transitional Residential Treatment Program

Supported Living Program
Our Supported Living program provides case management services and crisis intervention with two housing options: cooperative living apartments and independent living apartments.

The cooperative living apartments (called the Co-ops) are apartments that are leased or owned by the agency and rented by 4-5 residents among whom the responsibility for rent and utilities is shared. Residents receive individual case management services and attend regular house meetings facilitated by a case manager to assist clients in the coordination of maintaining a communal household. Each client, in conjunction with his or her case manager, determines the type and frequency of services. The apartments are in scattered locations around San Francisco and Napa and like our residential treatment programs are not identified as housing for individuals with mental illness. Residents are referred into the Co-ops by a service provider.

Progress Foundation has three independent living apartment buildings in San Francisco and one in Napa. Two of the buildings have units designated specifically for families. The independent living apartments are for individuals who require moderate but on-going support in order to maintain maximum independence. Case management services are available to residents of these buildings but are not a requirement for maintaining residence. Each building has a resident manager to respond to facility needs and help maintain a safe, clean environment. Residents pay 30% of their income for rent and the wait lists are maintained in accordance with HUD regulations, with notification to the community when a list is open and accepting applications.

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