An intensive outpatient program (IOP) for youth is a structured level of care where a teen attends several sessions a week while living at home and staying in school. Project Eden provides the outpatient level of that continuum for young people across Alameda County. Medi-Cal is accepted, no-cost and sliding-scale options are available, and there is no judgment here.
An intensive outpatient program for youth is a structured treatment level in which an adolescent attends multiple counseling sessions each week, usually after school or in the evening, while living at home. It sits between standard outpatient counseling and residential treatment. Families choose it when weekly sessions are not enough but a young person does not need to leave home.
Project Eden provides the outpatient level of that continuum. Below is how the levels generally differ.
Outpatient counseling | Intensive outpatient (IOP) | Residential treatment | |
|---|---|---|---|
Where the teen lives | At home | At home | At the treatment facility |
School | Continues normally | Continues, sessions scheduled around it | Usually on-site schooling |
Typical intensity | Weekly or twice-weekly sessions | Several structured sessions per week | 24-hour care |
Family involvement | Family counseling and parent support | Family sessions, varies by program | Family sessions, varies by program |
Offered by Project Eden | Yes | No | No |
The assessment answers that question, not a web page. Project Eden staff meet with the young person individually, with the parent or guardian, and with the family together, then build a treatment plan around what they find.
Project Eden has provided prevention, education, and treatment services to young people and families in Alameda County since the late 1960s. Counseling, school-based prevention, and family support sit in one program, so a young person can move between them without starting over somewhere new.
Project Eden was founded in the late 1960s by a Castro Valley pediatrician and a Hayward Unified School District administrator in response to growing substance use challenges among local youth.
Since then, Project Eden has provided prevention, education, intervention, and treatment services to children, adolescents, adults, families, and communities throughout Hayward, Castro Valley, San Leandro, Union City, Livermore, Dublin, Pleasanton, and San Lorenzo.
Our programs support youth who are already engaging in high-risk use of alcohol, marijuana, fentanyl, or other substances, as well as young people whose behaviors or life circumstances place them at elevated risk for substance use.
• Living in a household affected by substance use
• Conflict with parents or caregivers
• Academic struggles or poor school performance
• Behavioral challenges at home or school
• Involvement with the juvenile justice system
• Identity-related stress or social challenges
• Mental health concerns such as anxiety or depression
Understanding the risks associated with substance use is essential. Our programs help youth make informed decisions and build healthier coping strategies.
We focus on strengthening support systems, setting boundaries, identifying positive alternatives, and building protective behaviors that reduce high-risk use.
Students are referred by faculty, staff, families, or themselves. No referral from a school or a court is required
Project Eden’s Youth Outpatient Program addresses the physical, emotional, psychological, social, and educational needs of adolescents and young adults. Staff work from a foundation of compassionate care, substance use disorder expertise, and unconditional welcome.
Struggling with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or other drugs?
Text (510) 256-9420 and someone will text you back Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm.
If this is an emergency, call 911. If you are feeling suicidal and want to harm yourself, call 988.
Project Eden provides substance use education and supportive services in Alameda County school districts. Students are referred by faculty, staff, families, or themselves for prevention, education, and support with high-risk substance use, decision-making, refusal skills, anxiety, depression, anger management, and parental conflict.
What the prevention team provides:
Evidence-based curricula in use: Botvin’s LifeSkills, Be Brave Be Sensitive suicide prevention, Project SUCCESS, Brief Intervention, Safety First Training, and Prime Solutions.
Project Eden’s prevention team has run bilingual parent workshops with Tiburcio Vazquez Health Center at local high schools, covering how to spot signs of use and how to open a conversation.
Project Eden serves young people and families across Alameda County through school and community partnerships, including:
Tennyson High School · Hayward High School · Mt. Eden High School · Arroyo High School · Conley Caraballo High School · Livermore High School · Castro Valley High School · Granada High School · San Leandro High School · Winton Middle School · Martin Luther King Middle School · Anthony W. Ochoa Middle School · Cesar Chavez Middle School · Joe Mitchell Middle School
Project Eden also provides services in Hayward, Castro Valley, San Leandro, Union City, Livermore, Dublin, Pleasanton, and San Lorenzo.
Yes, Youth Services Program services are free to all participants.
Yes the Youth Outpatient Program services are offered on a sliding fee scale.
There is an initial $40 charge for the alcohol and other drug assessments.
Yes we accept Medi-Cal insurance.
Call (510) 650-0155 and tell us a bit about your family’s situation. Staff will walk you through the free, sliding-scale, and Medi-Cal options and what each one would mean for you.
Our Saving Face or Saving Lives Family Resource Guide can help you start the conversation.
Nearly sixty years in this community.
Project Eden has served Alameda County families since the late 1960s and joined Horizon in 1993.
A nonprofit safety net, not a private-pay program.
Horizon Treatment Services has served the Bay Area since 1976 and works with families, businesses, and public agencies across Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Mateo counties.
Accredited and licensed.
Horizon holds a CARF 3-Year Accreditation and is DHCS licensed.
Bilingual and affirming.
Services run in English and Spanish, and LGBTQIA+ young people are welcome.
Prevention and treatment in one place.
School-based prevention and outpatient counseling sit in the same program, so a young person can move between them without starting over somewhere new.
An intensive outpatient program for youth is a structured level of care where a teen attends several treatment sessions a week while living at home and staying in school. It is more intensive than weekly counseling and less intensive than residential treatment.
Project Eden provides youth outpatient counseling: individual, family, and group sessions, plus parent support and treatment planning. The right level of care for your teen is determined at assessment.
Outpatient counseling generally means fewer sessions per week with more scheduling flexibility. An intensive outpatient program adds more frequent, scheduled group and individual sessions. Both keep the young person at home and in school.
Call (510) 650-0155 or send the contact form. Staff will gather basic information and schedule an assessment with the young person and a parent or guardian.
Staff meet with the young person individually, with the parent or guardian, and with the whole family together. They use that to understand strengths, risks, and goals, then build a treatment plan for that family.
Adolescents and young adults in Alameda County who are using alcohol, marijuana, fentanyl, or other substances, or whose circumstances place them at elevated risk. Families are part of the work.
No. Students are referred by faculty, staff, families, or themselves.
An assessment is the step that answers the level-of-care question for your family. It costs nothing to ask.
Text (510) 256-9420, Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Or send us a message:
Clinically Reviewed By
Clinical Services Director, LCSW
Last reviewed: September 2026
Itzia Cruz is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a lifelong commitment to serving marginalized communities. She has worked with a wide range of underserved populations, including children and young people involved in the Child Protective Services and foster care systems, chronically ill patients, special…
LCSW
