Statewide Initiatives > Psychiatric Rehabilitation
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Clubhouse


What is a Clubhouse?
“Clubhouse” is a community-based, social and vocational rehabilitation program based on the world famous Fountain House model. This model features "work" and “membership” as the primary methods for providing participants with increased opportunities in employment, housing, education, skill development, and social activities. Based on the successful model established by Fountain House in NYC in 1948, the unique feature of clubhouses is the focus on work as the primary rehabilitative tool through which members are engaged and recover functioning. Member participation and involvement in all aspects of clubhouse operation, functions, and decision-making is integral to the clubhouse model as are peer support, education, self-determination, responsibility, and the opportunity to be employed in real work settings.

Mental Health Consumers throughout Pennsylvania experience the process of mental health recovery through the personal empowerment achieved through clubhouse membership. Above all, clubhouses are a place of hope!

Pennsylvania Clubhouse Coalition
Beginning in the 1970s with the early development of psychiatric rehabilitation philosophy and principles, many programs were established with the name “clubhouse.” While many of these programs provide effective and needed services, not all of these “clubhouses” follow ICCD clubhouse standards. ICCD clubhouses follow a very unique model of psychiatric rehabilitation. See the ICCD web site at www.iccd.org for more inforamtion.

The Pennsylvania Clubhouse Coalition (PCC) was founded in October 1993 by four clubhouses, which follow the 35 clubhouse standards established by the International Center for Clubhouse Development (ICCD), based in Fountain House, New York City. Over the past 10 years, the PCC has grown to 27 clubhouses. These clubhouses are committed to supporting the growth and recovery of people with mental illness, and to reducing the stigma associated with having a mental illness in the community, especially through employment.

The the Pennsylvania Clubhouse Coalition serves as a forum to facilitate the enhancement of ICCD clubhouse rehabilitation programs and to improve the lives of people with mental illness in Pennsylvania.

Functions of the PA Clubhouse Coalition

  • To provide a definition of a clubhouse for Pennsylvania.
  • To articulate clubhouse positions on issues that affect the interests of adults with mental illness.
  • To educate and advise others throughout the State by clarifying the role of clubhouses in the array of services offered in the mental health system.
  • To support the development of new clubhouses.
  • To support the enhancement of existing clubhouses.
  • To develop educational forums related to clubhouse issues.
  • To facilitate outcome studies on the effectiveness of clubhouse programs and disseminate the results.
  • To secure funding in Pennsylvania for Transitional Employment as defined by the ICCD Standards.
  • To facilitate the networking of clubhouses statewide.

Pennsylvania Clubhouse Coalition (PCC) - Member Criteria
PCC Vision and Strategic Plan

Please visit the PA Clubhouse Coalition at www.paclubhouse.org.

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Drop-In Centers

What is a drop-in center? 
A drop-in center is a safe haven for adults, an accepting place for anyone in need of support, advocacy and self empowerment on their recovery journey.  Ideally Drop Ins are Consumer run, however here in PA and elsewhere there exist Drop Ins primarily run  or run by consumers in partnership with an auspice agency.  A drop in center, also sometimes called a peer resource center or self help center is a place of choice and is non-clinical.   The people who use the drop-in center develop socialization programs and whatever other programs they choose.

At a drop-in center, there are people, not patients. The same people who come in search of support also support others and help run the center. Because the individuals who use drop-in centers determine the programs that are available, each drop-in center fills a unique role in people’s lives and in the community.  However, all consumer-run drop-in centers share some common features, such as supportive environments, sources of information and social activities. As drop-in centers have developed across the country, they have provided a place where people with psychiatric labels who may not have been welcomed elsewhere can get away to a warm, friendly, family atmosphere. Centers often provide basic needs such as food and clothing and link consumers with social support services. 

However, as the consumer movement becomes more sophisticated, the concept of a drop-in center’s role has changed for many within the movement. Whereas the drop-in center previously was viewed as a place to provide basic supports, now many drop-in centers see themselves as a means of empowering people to take control of their own recovery and wellness.  Drop-in centers promote empowerment by allowing participants to plan the activities that they themselves see as useful. This model is much different from that of traditional mental health services.  At consumer-run drop-in centers, people create responsibilities for themselves. Individuals who use the center establish rules of behavior, work commitments, and event schedules.  It is a place where people can see others who have suffered the same stigma and discrimination but are able to move forward with their lives.  

Empowerment is central to drop in centers.  Participants plan their own recovery. Drop-in centers have been far ahead of traditional mental health services in embracing the concept of recovery; the belief that people can focus on building better lives rather than simply treating symptoms.   By becoming involved with drop-in centers, people can begin to shed the labels and limits that they have experienced and see opportunities. 

The role and function of drop-in centers in the mental health system
Clearly, drop-in centers play important and effective roles in the lives of many people, but what roles do the centers play in the mental health system? For many people who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses, drop-in centers have been an essential way of improving their quality of life. In addition to (or rather than) seeking treatment from clinical programs, individuals can visit drop-in centers to seek support from their peers, participate in social activities, seek help in obtaining services and benefits, or simply relax and have fun. Although many drop-in centers do not consider themselves a part of the mental health system, it is impossible to deny that the existence of successful drop-in centers have a major impact on the mental health system. Interacting with and as an enhancement to the mental health system, consumer-run drop-in centers fill a unique and important role in (or around) the mental health system and the community. 

For a fraction of the cost of clinical mental health services, a drop-in center can provide a supportive environment for individuals who might otherwise resort to hospitalization, crisis services or other costly services.  As a result of their struggles they may have gotten involved in the criminal justice system, become homeless or succumbed to isolation that leads to deterioration of their lives and health, all of which can be ameliorated by peer support available at a drop in center.   

Many drop-in centers offer services on evenings, weekends, and holidays, when clinical mental health services might be unavailable and times that many people find particularly difficult.  Drop-in centers have extensive histories as a vital part of a community.  They provide a doorway for an individual’s recovery journey.   Participants develop a sense of responsibility, self-worth, and belonging that may be absent in traditional settings.  

Pennsylvania Coalition of Drop-In Centers and Peer Resource Centers:
Bylaws

Resources for Drop-In Centers:

Fairweather Lodge

What is the Fairweather Lodge Program?
The Fairweather Lodge Program helps people reintegrate themselves into the community by providing emotional support, a place to live, and employment for its members. The program was developed by Dr. George Fairweather in California in 1963 as a result of extensive experimental research. In his studies, Dr. Fairweather found that people with serious mental illness are less likely to return to the hospital when they live and work together as a group, rather than live and work individually. His research also showed that the lodge program helps people stay in the community longer, provides more employment opportunities, and costs less than conventional treatment programs. Because of the success of the original groups, the Community Lodge Program has expanded considerably during the past 25 years and there are now lodges across the nation.

How Does A Lodge Operate?
Typically, lodges are small groups of four to eight people who share a house and own a small business. Each group must select a business to operate, for which they develop and implement a business plan. Lodge businesses have included lawn care, custodial or laundry services, printing, furniture building, shoe repair, catering, and other services. Lodge members assume specific positions of responsibility within the household and the business. For example, the business may have a manager and a crew chief; the household, a cook and a medication supervisor. There are no live-in staff members at any lodge, although each lodge has access to a professional who is available for training and consultation whenever the group requests his or her help. Staff members are also on call 24 hours a day for emergencies. In addition, lodge members hire professional consultants - such as accountants and lawyers - to assist with lodge business operation. Responsibility for the house and business improves the member's self-confidence and helps them become more independent by giving them a stable role in the community.

What Are The Program Principles?

  • Consumers must have a stake in the system.
  • The program must provide consumers as much autonomy as possible.
  • Options for promotion and rising to a higher status must be provided.
  • Values of the larger society should be reflected.
  • The program must reflect the characteristics of the environment in which it exists.
  • Tolerance of harmless individual idiosyncrasies must be established.
  • Feedback must be provided on the problem-solving abilities of the consumers.
  • Open entry and exit for consumers must be provided.
  • Both rehabilitative and work norms should be supported.
  • Program should not be dependent on good will of the community in which it exists.

Please visit The Coalition for Community Living web site at www.theccl.org.

PAPSRS

PAPSRS (Pennsylvania Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services) is an association of more than 175 psychiatric rehabilitation organizations and practitioners throughout the commonwealth which works in close collaboration with OMHSAS.  PAPSRS is affiliated nationally with USPRA (United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association). 

PAPSRS was organized over 20 years ago to promote and support the philosophy, values, and practices of Psychiatric Rehabilitation for people in recovery from mental illness and to exercise leadership and encourage the development of continually improving concepts and practices of Psychiatric Rehabilitation in Pennsylvania.  It offers training opportunities and technical assistance in close collaboration with OMHSAS in the areas of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Recovery, and Service Transformation.  Training is offered through an annual conference, institutes, workshops, and regional trainings.  In conjunction with USPRA, PAPSRS offers training and encouragement of practitioners to attain the status of Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner (CPRP), nationally recognized as evidence of competence and proficiency in the field.  Pennsylvania currently has more CPRPs than any other state.

PAPSRS is dedicated to the promotion and improvement of a range of services and approaches that facilitate recovery and is very supportive of Peer Support, encouraging membership of the new Peer Support workers.  The PAPSRS Conference is held in April in State College, PA. See the web site for more information.

More information about PAPSRS can be found at www.papsrs.org .  Look there for Conference and training information as well as membership initiatives for Peer Specialists.  Contact PAPSRS at any time regarding membership or member-services information at papsrs@comcast.net or calling 888-490-0404.

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