The Fairweather Model

In the mid 1950s, a new movement known as "de-institutionalization" began to reduce the population of mentally ill patients from state hospitals in attempt to save money on hospitalization costs. The program evolved and accelerated through the 1960s without adequate funding or planning. Many mentally ill people left the hospital but returned a short time later due to inabilities to adapt to community life.

In 1963, Dr. George W. Fairweather and a group of social psychologists developed an alternative approach to hospitalization for people with schizophrenia. Dr. Fairweather and his associates discovered that with training and support, small groups could successfully share the responsibility of making every day decisions. The groups could live and work in the community with a higher level of mental health stability at a lower cost to the public.

This model for success became known as the Fairweather Lodge Model. The model consisted of a basic set of principles to follow in order to create a self-governing group. These principles are the framework for the Fairweather Lodge Certification Standards established by the Coalition for Community Living.

Eight of Dr. Fairweather's original 13 standards are still used to measure the success of a Fairweather Lodge. The principles are:

1. The lodge must provide a safe, healthy and caring environment, which reinforces the recovery process. 
2. The lodge must be a part of the plan for managing symptoms and promoting good mental health.
3. Services must be available as long as the participant wants and needs them. 
4. People with psychiatric disabilities increase their community success and raise their social status through employment, through accumulating wealth and through direct consumerism. Opportunities for promotion and rising to a higher status are provided.
5. Above and beyond economic roles, participants need to have meaningful roles in both the lodge and the larger community.
6. A successful lodge resembles a healthy family.
7. In order to progress, people with psychiatric disabilities need autonomy commensurate with their behavioral abilities, with the ultimate goal of full autonomy. The program must provide the consumers as much autonomy as possible.
8. Lodges must not be dependent on resources from any single entity.

In 2008, 15 out of 16 Tasks Unlimited Lodges scored in the top two categories for meeting these standards.