Geriatric day care which provides a continuum of care for the frail elderly is a relatively new type of service program, and client classification decisions are central to its implementation. Data on staff decision-making were obtained from clinical staff (N=7) of a state psychiatric center geriatric unit which offers programs at three levels of psychogeriatric day care (therapeutic day hospital, activities day care, community management). Clinicians ranked the importance of each of 20 variables in their decision-making process. Based on these ratings, the four most relevant variables were identified. Clinicians then considered each of these four variables in isolation and identified the programs in which they would place a person with a given degree of impairment in that area. Results revealed that the most relevant variables to placement decisions were severity of psychopathology, social isolation, activity level, and situation-emotional climate. Many factors cited as relevant also differentiated between participants in the three program levels. Clinicians reported using three of the four most relevant criteria in a way consistent with the program description and with client profiles. The social isolation variable, however, was applied inconsistently both with respect to the program descriptions and to client profiles. The findings provide support for subsequent program changes. (NRB)