The acute non-hospital: a California model

Crisis residential programs were established by the California legislature in 1978 to provide an alternative to hospitalization for treatment of voluntary acute psychiatric patients. The five crisis residential programs in San Diego County, California, provide high-quality mental health care that is community-based and considerably less expensive than traditional in-hospital programs. Currently, the majority of public-sector, voluntary adult patients in San Diego County receives acute psychiatric inpatient services in these programs. This paper provides a description of the facilities, staff composition, patients, treatment model, and costs.