San Rafael, CA — Upholding its commitment to connect community members with mental health and substance use resources, Marin Health and Human Services’ Behavioral Health and Recovery Services is partnering with Bay Area-based Progress Foundation to operate a new adult residential treatment facility, at 920 Grand Avenue, in San Rafael. It will be the first licensed treatment center of its kind in Marin.
“This project fills a gap in our current residential placement continuum of care,” said Jei Africa, PsyD, MSCP, director of Behavioral Health and Recovery Services at Marin Health and Human Services. “The nearest beds for clients needing longer-term transitional residential care are as far away as the Central Valley and Southern California. This facility will provide beds in Marin County, which are much closer to our clients’ support networks.”
An artist's rendering of what the redeveloped facility will look like when it opens in Fall 2022. Situated near public transit, employment, and other Marin support services, this around-the-clock facility will provide treatment through a diverse range of mental health staff including those with lived experience. It will provide up to 16- beds for ambulatory adults age 18 or older who have serious and persistent mental health disorders. Occupancy is scheduled for October 2022.
Marin County’s Board of Supervisors awarded a contract for the redevelopment of the building and the operation of the new adult residential treatment facility at 920 Grand Avenue on January 12, 2021 to Progress Foundation, after having previously endorsed the concept of developing the county-owned property into an adult transitional residential treatment program (TRTP) in 2019. Progress Foundation was chosen by the County after a Request for Interest and Request for Proposal process between November 2019 and August 2020.
Serving more than 3,000 individuals annually, Progress Foundation operates 19- Social Rehabilitation residential treatment facilities servicing those with serious mental illness and associated substance use challenges across San Francisco, Sonoma, and Napa counties. Founded in 1969, Progress Foundation is a non-profit provider model with more than 50- years of experience in establishing innovative modalities of treatment and a public record of success stories.
“We believe treatment for serious mental illness and associated social challenges occurs best in a planned social-relational situation,” said Steve Fields, Progress Foundation’s executive director. “The therapeutic value of everyday, normalized experiences, like meals and chores, helps clients build skills and healthy relationships with each other and our staff. Our services are individualized and offered in a way that teaches and enhances movement toward increased self-sufficiency.”
Redevelopment expenses total $5.99 million. Funding for the project comes from several sources including the county’s general fund. Additionally, a proposed $2,281,877 agreement, which includes $1.80 million in annual operating costs and $481,877 in startup costs, runs through June 30, 2023, and provides funds to Progress Foundation to operate the program. This facility will allow for reimbursement of services by billing Medi-Cal and collecting program fees, neither of which the county is able to utilize with the currently contracted beds in out-of-county Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD) facilities. These combined revenue streams will offset the annual operating costs by at least 50- percent.
Progress Foundation awarded the design of the project to RossDrulisCusenbery Architecture, a Bay Area firm specializing in justice, public safety, and community projects. It also contracted with Nova Partners Inc.as the construction manager and Petaluma-based ARNTZ Builders, Inc. as the General Contractor.
TRTP is a therapeutic treatment model that assesses treatment and social support needs, implements a recovery-based treatment plan, and connects clients to community support systems that can sustain the gains realized in the residential treatment setting after discharge. Clients are referred to this level of care from psychiatric inpatient units, Crisis Residential Treatment Programs, and skilled nursing facilities, with the vast majority coming from IMD located outside of Marin County. The larger part of individuals participating in Progress Foundation programs have histories of naturally occurring serious mental illness and substance use disorders.
The focus of the TRTP will be on providing a normalizing, client-centered, and recovery-based system of care for clients of Marin’s public behavioral health system. The familiar environment of a home-like setting, along with the treatment services, is designed to address and remediate the effects of long-term and repeated episodes of institutional care. Programs emphasize wellness and recovery over disability and diagnosis in a normalizing, intentional community framework. The consistent interaction between clients and staff, and clients and fellow clients, allows for the opportunity to draw upon the real-life challenges of developing useful daily living skills, along with critically needed interpersonal skills.
About Marin HHS
Marin County’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the largest department in the County of Marin consisting of more than 700 employees and 40 programs that provide a range of health and social services to county residents. Marin HHS’ mission is to promote and protect the health, well-being, self-sufficiency, and safety of all people residing in Marin. To learn more about our core values of Support, Unity, Trust, and Excellence, visit: https://www.marinhhs.org/.