Who we are

The Community of Communities (C of C) is a quality improvement and accreditation programme for Therapeutic Communities (TCs) in the UK and overseas. Our work supports members to meet the highest standards of TC practice through a process of self- and peer-review.

Member TCs work with adults and children with a range of complex needs including personality disorder, offending behaviour, addictions, learning disabilities and severe mental illness. They are found within health, education, social care and prison settings.

Community of Communities (C of C) is an initiative of the College Centre for Quality Improvement (CCQI), working in partnership with The Consortium of Therapeutic Communities (TCTC).

Members of Community of Communities have access to the members' tools area of the website which provides useful links and documents to download to support your work within the therapeutic community.

If you are new to the world of TCs or would like to know more about what therapeutic communities do, there is some useful information available on how TCs work.

  • Engage all those who use and work in TCs in service evaluation and quality improvement
  • Provide democratically agreed Service Standards (see below) which identify and describe excellence in TC practice across different settings
  • Provide opportunities for cross sector learning and engagement
  • Encourage an atmosphere of engagement as opposed to inspection
  • Provide evidence of quality and quality improvement for commissioners, senior managers and the wider world
  • Host a large TC skills and knowledge community that provides information and support

Core Values

  • Community of Communities has developed a set of 10 Core Values subscribed to by all members of the Community of Communities Network
  • The values articulate the basic principles and philosophy of Therapeutic Communities
  • Services may use the values to provide context for the standards and to inform training relating to Therapeutic Community practice
  • The values are not intended to be measured as part of the self- and peer-review process.

Core Standards

  • The Core Standards represent the basic requirements of a service using a Therapeutic Community approach
  • The standards link Therapeutic Communities across sectors and client populations and can be used independently to support the development of therapeutic practice.
  • More information about the development of the Core Standards and Core Values can be found in this briefing paper

Service Standards

The majority of the Service Standards for Therapeutic Communities 10th edition have remained consistent with the Service Standards 9th edition to allow for continuous performance to be measured. These standards can be viewed here: CofC 10th Edition Service Standards for Therapeutic Communities. In addition, the Service Standards for Therapeutic Communities (10th Edition) have been devised for use across the sectors of membership with a supplementary section for Addiction TCs which reflect their hierarchical model. These can be viewed here:  CofC Additional Standards for Addiction Services.

If you have any questions about C of C please contact the Project Team at cofc@rcpsych.ac.uk.

Beth Thibaut
Programme Manager

Katy Carver
Deputy Programme Manager

Catherine Stanesby
Project Officer

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