Citizenship

Citizenship is an innovative model for community integration and social inclusion. It was developed by the Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health (PRCH).

The ideas behind the approach were originated by Michael Rowe (co-director of PRCH) and his experiences delivering mental health and homelessness outreach services.

Turning Point Scotland brought the idea of Citizenship to the organisation five years ago. Using this approach, Karen Black, the Citizenship and Research manager at TPS, works directly with people in services and also raises awareness across the whole organisation.

Citizenship is a holistic approach to promoting the recovery, self-determination and inclusion of people accessing our services with the aim of reducing stigma and discrimination by focusing on the strengths and valuable contributions they  can make to their communities.

• Citizenship is defined as a measure of the strength of a persons connection to the 5 R’s of: Rights, Responsibilities, Roles, Resources, Relationships, that society makes available to its members.
• Citizenship is characterised by participation in social life and feeling valued by and belonging to a community.
• Citizenship focussed  practice promotes community inclusion by recognising a person’s skills, strengths, assets and valuable contributions they can make to their communities.

The Housing First Academy is using this framework to inform how we engage with colleagues on and via the website and also in the way that we promote supporting people (directly or indirectly).