About
About Design for Change
Design for Change is a private residential addiction treatment facility located at 1066 East Avenue J in Lancaster, California, within Los Angeles County. Operating around the clock every day of the week, the center serves individuals from across Southern California and beyond — including communities such as Palmdale, Santa Clarita, Glendale, Pasadena, San Bernardino, Riverside, and as far as San Diego and San Francisco. For people in crisis or making a same-day decision about treatment, the facility’s 24/7 availability means intake is never delayed by business hours.
The facility offers three distinct levels of care: medical detox, residential treatment, and an outpatient program. Medical detox is the entry point for individuals who require supervised withdrawal management before transitioning into longer-term treatment. Program lengths range from short-stay formats — including 3-day, 5-day, 7-day, 10-day, and 14-day options — up to 21-day, 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day programs, as well as 7-plus-day dedicated detox tracks. This continuum allows the level of intensity to match where a person is clinically, rather than fitting every patient into a single format.
Treatment at Design for Change incorporates medication-assisted treatment (MAT) alongside cognitive behavioral therapy, individual therapy, family therapy, and holistic modalities. The facility addresses a broad spectrum of substance addictions — including heroin, fentanyl, alcohol, benzodiazepines, methamphetamine, cocaine, and opiates — as well as co-occurring disorders such as trauma and PTSD. That dual-diagnosis capability is clinically significant: many people entering detox carry underlying mental health conditions that, if left unaddressed, increase the risk of relapse.
Design for Change serves men, women, veterans, pregnant women, young adults ages 18 to 25, seniors, and individuals who are court-ordered into treatment, as well as those with HIV/AIDS support needs. Payment options include private insurance through Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Kaiser Permanente, and Carelon Behavioral Health, plus TRICARE for military-connected individuals and self-pay. Aftercare services, an intensive outpatient program (IOP), and a standard outpatient program are available to support the transition out of residential care.
- Medical detox with program lengths as short as 3 days or as long as 90 days — one of the wider continuum options available in the Lancaster/Los Angeles County area
- Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) available alongside therapy-based care, supporting withdrawal management for substance-dependent patients
- Dual-diagnosis treatment for co-occurring disorders including trauma and PTSD, addressing mental health conditions that often accompany addiction
- Accepts TRICARE in addition to major commercial insurers, making the facility accessible to veterans and active-duty military families
- 24/7 operating schedule with a broad service area spanning Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, and beyond