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Admission · ASAM Criteria · clinical screenDo I qualify for IOP?
Nobody qualifies on a form. A licensed clinician works through six areas of your situation and places you at the level of care that matches, which may be above or below intensive outpatient. Here is what gets weighed.
A clinician decides, on the ASAM Criteria, in one conversation.
Intensive outpatient fits the person who needs more structure than a weekly therapy hour gives, and who is safe to sleep at home. The assessment is an ASAM-aligned biopsychosocial interview, and it ends with a documented level-of-care decision that a licensed clinician signs.
The screen is also where a different answer gets given. If what you need is medically managed withdrawal, residential treatment or acute psychiatric stabilization, we say so and help you find it, because being admitted to the wrong level of care is worse than waiting a day for the right one.
Being physically in California during every session is the one hard requirement. Our clinicians are licensed here, and California telehealth rules follow the patient rather than the provider.
Six areas, in plain language.
Whether you are in withdrawal or likely to be, and how risky that is without a bed and a nurse. Low-risk withdrawal can be managed inside ambulatory withdrawal management.
Medical conditions that change the plan, including anything that needs a prescriber in the loop.
Depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar and other conditions alongside the substance use, and whether there is any immediate safety concern.
Not whether you are certain. Treatment plans start from where someone actually is.
What has happened in previous attempts, and what the triggers look like week to week.
Whether home supports the work between sessions, or undoes it.
A licensed clinician. Your plan may then review it before care starts.
Medically managed withdrawal, residential need, acute psychiatric stabilization. All three need a building.
Physically in California during each session, on a stable connection in a private room.
We tell you at the screen and help you find the level that is.
We read your plan before you commit to anything.
Covered by many PPO plans. We check your benefits first.
Shift bills most major commercial plans on an out-of-network basis, and in-network credentialing is in process. We read your plan, tell you what it pays toward intensive outpatient care, and give you that number in writing before your first appointment.
Medi-Cal. We cannot bill Medi-Cal today, because we hold no county contract yet. If Medi-Cal is your coverage, tell us and we will point you to a county provider who can help now.
More on coverage: what it costs, what out-of-network means, your carrier.
The ones people ask first.
What are the criteria for IOP?
A documented clinical judgment that you need more structured hours than weekly therapy provides and are safe at home, reached across the six areas above using the ASAM Criteria.
Do I need a referral to start?
No. You can call yourself, or a therapist, a hospital, an employer assistance programme or a family member can start the call. Referral routes are here.
Does my insurance have to approve it?
Many plans review intensive outpatient care before it begins. We run the benefit check and handle that request as part of intake.
How serious is it if someone suggested IOP to me?
It means someone judged that weekly therapy is unlikely to be enough on its own. It is a level of care, not a verdict, and the assessment is the thing that settles it.
What if I only drink on weekends?
Pattern matters less than consequences and risk. Bring the pattern to the screen and let a clinician weigh it. The signs that hide in plain sight are here.
Find out in one conversation.
A benefit check and a short clinical screen, both free, and a straight answer about the level of care at the end of them.
If you or someone you are with is in immediate danger, call or text 988 (the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) or call 911. Shift Support Network is an outpatient program and is not an emergency service. Related: How it works · IOP vs PHP · Levels of care · Your first day.