How ICCD Clubhouses Can Help
- Definition of Clubhouses and How They Function
- Quality Standards and Certification
- Photo Gallery
- Return On Investment (ROI)
How ICCD Clubhouses Can Help
International Standards for Clubhouse Programs
The International Standards for Clubhouse Programs, consensually agreed upon by the worldwide Clubhouse community, define the Clubhouse Model of rehabilitation. The principles expressed in the Standards:
- Are at the heart of the success experienced by ICCD Clubhouses around the world in helping people with mental illness stay out of hospitals while achieving social, financial, educational, and vocational goals;
- Serve as a “bill of rights” for members and a code of ethics for ICCD Clubhouse staff, boards and administrators and a reminder that Clubhouses be places that offer respect and opportunities to members;
- Provide the basis for assessing Clubhouse quality through the International Center for Clubhouse Development (ICCD) Certification process.
Every two years, the ICCD Standards Review Committee, which is made up of members and staff of ICCD-certified Clubhouses from around the world, reviews the Standards, based on proposals from member Clubhouses, and amends them as necessary. Principles inherent in each of the Standards include:
- Membership: ensures members that their participation is fully voluntary and that they can access all the opportunities available to them through ICCD Clubhouses.
- Relationships: describes the unique collegial relationship between Clubhouse staff and members.
- Space: emphasizes the importance of creating a dignified, attractive environment where important work is carried out.
- Work-Ordered Day: describes the structure of the day-to-day activity within a Clubhouse, organized to help members develop self-esteem, confidence and friendships, which make up the foundation of the recovery process.
- Employment: ensures that Clubhouses offer members organized, effective strategies for moving into and maintaining gainful employment. Members have access to:
- Education: ensures that Clubhouses offer members effective opportunities to complete their education.
- Functions of the House: addresses the basic requirements for meeting members’ needs, with an emphasis on social and healthcare services.
- Funding, Governance and Administration: describes requirements for overseeing and managing Clubhouses..
Click Here to Download a PDF version of the Standards in English.
Click Here to Download a PDF version of the Standards in Chinese (Traditional).
Click Here to Download a PDF version of the Standards in Chinese (Simplified).
Download a PDF version of the Standards in Danish ( to come)
Click Here to Download a PDF version of the Standards in French.
Click Here to Download a PDF version of the Standards in Finnish
Click Here to Download a PDF version of the Standards in German.
Click Here a PDF version of the Standards in Hebrew
Click Here a PDF version of the Standards in Italian
Click Here to Download a PDF version of the Standards in Korean.
Click Here to Download a PDF version of the Standards in Polish.
Click Here a PDF version of the Standards in Russian
Click Here to Download a PDF version of the Standards in Spanish.
International Standards for Clubhouse Programs
The International Standards for Clubhouse Programs, consensually agreed upon by the worldwide
Clubhouse community, define the Clubhouse Model of rehabilitation. The principles expressed in these
Standards are at the heart of the Clubhouse community’s success in helping people with mental illness
to
stay out of hospitals while achieving social, financial, educational and vocational goals. The Standards
also serve as a “bill of rights” for members and a code of ethics for staff, board and administrators. The
Standards insist that a Clubhouse is a place that offers respect and opportunity to its members.
The Standards provide the basis for assessing Clubhouse quality, through the International Center for
Clubhouse Development (ICCD) certification process.
Every two years the worldwide Clubhouse community reviews these Standards, and amends them as
deemed necessary. The process is coordinated by the ICCD Standards Review Committee, made up of
members and staff of ICCD-certified Clubhouses from around the world.
1. Membership is voluntary and without time limits.
2. The Clubhouse has control over its acceptance of new members. Membership is open to anyone
with a history of mental illness, unless that person poses a significant and current threat to the
general safety of the Clubhouse community.
3. Members choose the way they utilize the Clubhouse, and the staff with whom they work. There are
no agreements, contracts, schedules, or rules intended to enforce participation of members.
4. All members have equal access to every Clubhouse opportunity with no differentiation based on
diagnosis or level of functioning.
5. Members at their choice are involved in the writing of all records reflecting their participation in the
Clubhouse. All such records are to be signed by both member and staff.
6. Members have a right to immediate re-entry into the Clubhouse community after any length of
absence, unless their return poses a threat to the Clubhouse community.
7. The Clubhouse provides an effective reach out system to members who are not attending, becoming
isolated in the community or hospitalized.
8. All Clubhouse meetings are open to both members and staff. There are no formal member only
meetings or formal staff only meetings where program decisions and member issues are discussed.
9. Clubhouse staff are sufficient to engage the membership, yet few enough to make carrying out their
responsibilities impossible without member involvement.
10. Clubhouse staff have generalist roles. All staff share employment, housing, evening and weekend,
holiday and unit responsibilities. Clubhouse staff do not divide their time between Clubhouse and
other major work responsibilities.
11. Responsibility for the operation of the Clubhouse lies with the members and staff and ultimately
with the Clubhouse director. Central to this responsibility is the engagement of members and staff in
all aspects of Clubhouse operation.
12. The Clubhouse has its own identity, including its own name, mailing address and telephone number.
13. The Clubhouse is located in its own physical space. It is separate from any mental health center or
institutional settings, and is impermeable to other programs. The Clubhouse is designed to facilitate
the work-ordered day and at the same time be attractive, adequate in size, and convey a sense of
respect and dignity.
14. All Clubhouse space is member and staff accessible. There are no staff only or member only spaces.
15. The work-ordered day engages members and staff together, side-by-side, in the running of the
Clubhouse. The Clubhouse focuses on strengths, talents and abilities; therefore, the work-ordered
day must not include medication clinics, day treatment or therapy programs within the Clubhouse.
16. The work done in the Clubhouse is exclusively the work generated by the Clubhouse in the
operation and enhancement of the Clubhouse community. No work for outside individuals or
agencies, whether for pay or not, is acceptable work in the Clubhouse. Members are not paid for any
Clubhouse work, nor are there any artificial reward systems.
17. The Clubhouse is open at least five days a week. The work-ordered day parallels typical working
hours.
18. The Clubhouse is organized into one or more work units, each of which has sufficient staff,
members and meaningful work to sustain a full and engaging work-ordered day. Unit meetings are
held to foster relationships as well as to organize and plan the work of the day.
19. All work in the Clubhouse is designed to help members regain self worth, purpose and
confidence; it is not intended to be job specific training.
20. Members have the opportunity to participate in all the work of the Clubhouse, including
administration, research, enrollment and orientation, reach out, hiring, training and
evaluation of staff, public relations, advocacy and evaluation of Clubhouse effectiveness.
21. The Clubhouse enables its members to return to paid work through Transitional Employment,
Supported Employment and Independent Employment; therefore, the Clubhouse does not provide
employment to members through in-house businesses, segregated Clubhouse enterprises or sheltered
workshops.
Transitional Employment
22.
The Clubhouse offers its own Transitional Employment program, which provides as a right of
membership opportunities for members to work on job placements in business and industry. As a
defining characteristic of a Clubhouse Transitional Employment program, the Clubhouse guarantees
coverage on all placements during member absences. In addition the Transitional Employment
program meets the following basic criteria.
a. The desire to work is the single most important factor determining placement opportunity.
b. Placement opportunities will continue to be available regardless of the level of success in
previous placements.
c. Members work at the employer’s place of business.
d. Members are paid the prevailing wage rate, but at least minimum wage, directly by the employer.
e. Transitional Employment placements are drawn from a wide variety of job opportunities.
f. Transitional Employment placements are part-time and time-limited, generally 15 to 20 hours per
week and from six to nine months in duration.
g. Selection and training of members on Transitional Employment is the responsibility of the
Clubhouse, not the employer.
h. Clubhouse members and staff prepare reports on TE placements for all appropriate agencies
dealing with members’ benefits.
i. Transitional Employment placements are managed by Clubhouse staff and members and not by
TE specialists.
j. There are no TE placements within the Clubhouse. Transitional Employment placements at an
auspice agency must be off site from the Clubhouse and meet all of the above criteria.
Supported and Independent Employment
23. The Clubhouse offers its own Supported and Independent Employment programs to assist members
to secure, sustain and subsequently, to better their employment. As a defining characteristic of
Clubhouse Supported Employment, the Clubhouse maintains a relationship with the working
member and the employer. Members and staff in partnership determine the type, frequency and
location of desired supports.
24. Members who are working independently continue to have available all Clubhouse supports and
opportunities including advocacy for entitlements, and assistance with housing, clinical, legal,
financial and personal issues, as well as participation in evening and weekend programs.
25. The Clubhouse assists members to further their vocational and educational goals by helping them
take advantage of adult education opportunities in the community. When the Clubhouse also
provides an in-house educational program, it significantly utilizes the teaching and tutoring skills of
members.
26. The Clubhouse is located in an area where access to local transportation can be assured, both in
terms of getting to and from the program and accessing TE opportunities. The Clubhouse provides
or arranges for effective alternatives whenever access to public transportation is limited.
27. Community support services are provided by members and staff of the Clubhouse. Community
support activities are centered in the work unit structure of the Clubhouse. They include helping
with entitlements, housing and advocacy, promoting healthy lifestyles, as well as assistance in
finding quality medical, psychological, pharmacological and substance abuse services in the
community.
28. The Clubhouse is committed to securing a range of choices of safe, decent and affordable housing
including independent living opportunities for all members. The Clubhouse has access to
opportunities that meet these criteria, or if unavailable, the Clubhouse develops its own housing
program. Clubhouse housing programs meet the following basic criteria.
a. Members and staff manage the program together.
b. Members who live there do so by choice.
c. Members choose the location of their housing and their roommates.
d. Policies and procedures are developed in a manner consistent with the rest of the Clubhouse
culture.
e. The level of support increases or decreases in response to the changing needs of the member.
f. Members and staff actively reach out to help members keep their housing, especially during
periods of hospitalization.
29. The Clubhouse conducts an objective evaluation of its effectiveness on a regular basis.
30. The Clubhouse director, members, staff and other appropriate persons participate in a three-week
training program in the Clubhouse Model at a certified training base.
31. The Clubhouse has recreational and social programs during evenings and on weekends. Holidays are
celebrated on the actual day they are observed.
FUNDING, GOVERNANCE and ADMINISTRATION
32. The Clubhouse has an independent board of directors, or if it is affiliated with a sponsoring agency,
has a separate advisory board comprised of individuals uniquely positioned to provide financial,
legal, legislative, employment development, consumer and community support and advocacy for the
Clubhouse.
33. The Clubhouse develops and maintains its own budget, approved by the board or advisory board
prior to the beginning of the fiscal year and monitored routinely during the fiscal year.
34. Staff salaries are competitive with comparable positions in the mental health field.
35. The Clubhouse has the support of appropriate mental health authorities and all necessary licenses
and accreditations. The Clubhouse collaborates with people and organizations that can increase its
effectiveness in the broader community.
36. The Clubhouse holds open forums and has procedures which enable members and staff to actively
participate in decision making, generally by consensus, regarding governance, policy making, and
the future direction and development of the Clubhouse.
International Center for Clubhouse Development
425 West 47th Street
New York, New York 10036
USA
Telephone: 212 582 0343
Fax: 212 397 1649
Web: www.iccd.org
October, 1989 ©
Revised as of October, 2010