The Wraparound Process

The Wraparound process is a tool for building constructive relationships and support networks around youth with behavioral/emotional challenges, their families, teachers, and other caregivers Wraparound was originally developed for the most difficult to serve youth who had been placed outside their schools, homes and communities. A key element in this process is families (including the student) and professionals reaching consensus on outcomes they want to achieve. Identifying and arranging the supports the adults (i.e. teachers, families) need to effectively implement interventions for the youth is an important component as well. Taking steps to ensure that the values and skills of those implementing the interventions are compatible with the plan designed is important. Use of this strength-based teaming process can increase the likelihood that appropriate supports and interventions, including research-based behavioral and instructional interventions are effectively implemented. For example, having natural support persons as part of the team (i.e. extended family members, friends, mentors, etc) can increase the likelihood that the student and/or family follow through with interventions and activities developed through the team process.

As a tool to implement systems of care, the wraparound approach and process has resulted in new ways to organize supports and interventions for youth with emotional/behavioral challenges, their families, teachers, and other providers and caregivers. Often stepping outside of the bounds of traditional, categorical program structures, wraparound plans alter ecological variables across settings, create consensus on behaviors targeted for change, thereby creating a context where effective interventions are more likely to be applied and evaluated. An important by-product of wraparound, and a critical aspect of effective interventions for these young people, is alignment of families with teachers and other service providers in productive and proactive partnerships (Eber, Sugai, Smith and Scott, 2002).
Wraparound is a family-centered, strength-based philosophy of care used to guide service planning for students with behavioral/emotional challenges and their families. As a philosophy of care with a defined planning process, wraparound results in a uniquely designed individual plan for a child and family to achieve a set of outcomes that reflect family/youth voice and choice. Although primarily initiated through mental health or child welfare systems, the application of this process directly in schools has led to improved outcomes for students with in a variety of educational settings.

Wraparound is not a service or a set of services as each youth/family designs their own team that plans and implements supports and interventions individually designed for their unique strengths and needs. Labeling some services “wraparound services” can actually impede the development of the flexible systems needed for effective service delivery if services are merely selected off a predetermined list without careful linkages to a agreed upon strengths and unique needs. The youth, family and their team of natural support and professional providers define the needs and collectively shape and create the supports, services, and interventions linked to agreed upon outcomes. Ownership of the plan by the youth and family and those who spend the most time with and have the most responsibility for the youth (i.e. teachers, other caregivers) are hallmark traits of the process which these stakeholders have frequently reported as critical to successful outcomes.

Key Features of Wraparound
(adapted from Goldman & Burns, 1999)

1. Wraparound is community-based in that services and supports are implemented in natural home, school and community environments. Restrictive settings are accessed only for brief periods of stabilization.
   
2. A team, consisting of the people who know the student best and represent his/her strengths, interests and needs at home, school, and in the community, develops an individualized plan. Unlike traditional human services that have relied on a deficit model, the plan is strengths based. Positive reframing to assets and skills is a key element in all individualized planning.
   
3. Wraparound is culturally competent as the composition of the team and the services and supports assure a fit to the person’s culture, values and life experiences.
   
4. Families as full and active partners is a key value reflected in the process as families choose their team members and the team prioritizes needs identified by the family and interventions, supports and services reflect family choice.
   
5. Wraparound is not a service but is a team-based process, involving family, natural supports, agencies, community supports.
   
6. Flexible approach and funding across systems is needed to ensure the plan fits the student and family instead of trying to make the student/family fit into a given program.
   
7. A balance of formal and informal resources are evident in wraparound plans as teams have the capacity to create individualized supports, activities, and interventions unique to the individual student and their family.
   
8. The team makes an unconditional commitment to change the plan to meet the needs of the student/family rather than referring them to another program or service system. If the plan doesn’t work the team is committed to changing the plan to ensure success instead of blaming the student/family for an ineffective plan.
   
9. The development and implementation of an individualized service/support plan is based on a community-neighborhood, interagency, collaborative process. Plans address multiple life domains which include family, living situation, educational, social/emotional, vocational, safety, medical, spiritual/cultural, legal, and safety.
   
10. Outcomes are determined and measured through the team process. The outcomes are defined by blending family/student and school voices and achieving consensus around clearly stated expectations and definitions of success. The outcomes are focused on normalization. Normalized needs are those basic human needs that all persons (of like, age, sex, culture) have.
    

Wraparound Plans for School and Beyond

To maximize sustainability of outcomes over time, multiple settings and life domains are included in the wraparound planning process. This may involve more comprehensive planning than the typical school-based planning meeting. However, students with significant and complex needs frequently require support and interventions across settings and various life domains in order to be successful at school. A description of life domains to be considered in designing the wraparound team and plan are provided below.

Life Domain Areas to Consider in Wraparound Planning
(adapted from VanDenBerg & Grealish, 1996)

RESIDENCE:
Do the current living arrangements meet the family’s needs?

FAMILY:
Who is in this family, by their definition? Do all family members have appropriate access to each other? What do the members of the family need to stay together or in touch with each other? Are there serious, unmet needs for any family members that impair the family’s ability to participate in community, home or school/work life?

SOCIAL:
Do family members have friends and access to their friends? Does this family have the opportunity to socialize with each other? As individuals? Do they have any fun? Do they have any way to relax?

EMOTIONAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL:
Does the referred individual have any unmet needs in these areas? Other family members? Are there unresolved issues that impede normal interactions within the family or in the community? Are there behavioral problems at home, school or in the community?

EDUCATIONAL/VOCATIONAL:
What will it take to ensure a viable education for the child? Do older children have access to employment opportunities? For what sort of future are they being prepared? Are their rights intact?

SAFETY:
Is everybody in the family safe? Are there dangers to individual family members? Is anybody potentially dangerous to themselves or to the community?

LEGAL:
Are any family members involved in the judicial system, on probation or parole? Do they have representation? Are there issues around custody?

MEDICAL:
Are health care needs met? Does the family have access to any specialist services they may need?

CULTURAL:
Is cultural uniqueness recognized and respected? Are there any unment cultural needs?

OTHER POSSIBLE AREAS:
Crisis intervention, Spiritual, Financial, or whatever seems to suit the family in question.

What’s Different about Wraparound?

Wraparound brings teachers, families, and community representatives together to unconditionally commit to support the student as well as the family, teacher, and other caregivers. Blending perspectives of families, school personnel, and other service providers is a critical step in this process. Once commitment and consensus about roles, strengths and needs, are established, team members can carefully design interventions that are directly linked to clearly stated outcomes. Applying the wraparound process through schools can increase family voice in designing school-based interventions that can lead to better outcomes across settings (Eber, 1999). Additionally, family and community supports can be accessed to maximize support for students and their families across settings.

An effective child-family wraparound team knows how to step “outside of the box” of the usual categorical service options. Teams create or reorganize services based on unique needs and circumstances of students with complex needs. Services are created on a "one student at a time" basis to support normalized and inclusive options. Combining natural supports (i.e. childcare, transportation, mentors, parent-to-parent support) with traditional interventions (i.e. positive behavior interventions, teaching social skills, reading instruction, therapy) can lead to more effective outcomes. Examples of supports and services in wraparound plans include respite, mentors, peer supports, parent partners, and assistance for families in need of basic supports such as housing, transportation, job assistance, childcare, and health and safety supports. School components of wraparound plans include strength-based academic, behavioral, and social skills instructional strategies and reinforcement as well as consultation and supports for teachers. Wraparound planning assures that resources are delivered on the basis of need rather than pre-determined programs or settings. Existing school-based programs may need to be altered or re-designed based on the student’s strengths and needs as defined by their team. Eleven Unique aspects of wraparound that make it different than typical school-based programming for students with complex emotional/behavioral needs are summarized below:

What’s Unique About Wraparound?

• One integrated plan addresses individual needs of the student across the entire school day and beyond the school day (i.e. at home and in the community).
  
• A student’s wraparound plan may also include supports and services for their family and teacher(s).
  
• The school-based portion of the wraparound plan takes planning beyond where the student will attend school or in what program she will be placed to the specific interventions and supports needed to ensure success, regardless of location.
  
• Some team members must resemble the family in terms of such demographic variables as economic circumstances, family composition and neighborhood.
  
• Driven by unique needs rather than by the programs that currently are available.
  
• The team assumes responsibility for changing the plan to make it work for the student rather than concluding that the student “isn’t able to succeed in the program”.
  
• Interventions build on and use strengths of the student, teacher and family.
  
• Expectations for students are based on those for typical students in his/her ecological setting(s).
  
• The wraparound plan may reflect a blend of traditional and non-traditional programs and resources.
  
• Teams have the capacity to create unique individualized supports and activities.
  
• Positive behavior supports and academic interventions are important aspects of the wraparound plan.