Wraparound Services represent a comprehensive, highly individualized planning process designed for youth and families experiencing complex needs that involve multiple service systems. This flexible service delivery model coordinates all necessary supports around the family unit. Wraparound is not a specific service, such as therapy or tutoring, but an approach that focuses on building on the family’s existing strengths. The goal is to achieve sustainable, long-term success within their own home and community, avoiding restrictive placements.
Core Definition and Philosophy
Wraparound is fundamentally different from standard service models because it is a needs-driven, not service-driven, approach to care. The plan is built entirely around the specific needs identified by the family, rather than fitting the family into a pre-existing menu of available programs. The model uses a team-based structure, bringing together formal service providers and informal supports to collaborate on a single plan. Informal supports, also called natural supports, include people like friends, family members, and neighbors who are already part of the family’s life.
The foundational philosophy is to leverage the family’s inherent capabilities and resources to resolve challenges in their natural environment. This process aims to maintain children safely within their homes and communities. The focus on long-term sustainability seeks to create a cohesive support system rooted in the family’s community, allowing them to maintain positive outcomes even after formal Wraparound support ends.
The Guiding Principles of Wraparound
The Wraparound process is governed by ten guiding principles that ensure consistent, high-fidelity implementation.
- Family Voice and Choice: The family’s perspectives, preferences, and culture direct all planning and decision-making. This includes choosing team members, setting goals, and determining meeting logistics.
- Team-Based: The process brings together professionals and the family’s personal network to collectively develop and implement the plan of care.
- Natural Supports: Unpaid people from the family’s life, such as relatives or mentors, are actively recruited to build a lasting support system.
- Strengths-Based: The work focuses on identifying and enhancing the capabilities, knowledge, and assets of the youth, the family, and the community.
- Individualized: A completely unique set of strategies and supports is developed for each family, ensuring no two plans look exactly alike.
- Community-Based: Services and support strategies take place in the most inclusive, accessible, and least restrictive settings possible.
- Cultural Competence: The team demonstrates respect for and builds upon the family’s values, beliefs, and identity throughout the process.
- Collaboration: All team members work cooperatively, sharing responsibility for the plan and blending their expertise and resources.
- Unconditional: The team commits to continuous care, meaning they will not give up on the family or terminate services when facing challenges or setbacks.
- Outcome-Based: Goals and strategies are tied to measurable indicators of success, and progress is regularly monitored to revise the plan as needed.
The Four Phases of Implementation
The Wraparound process is executed across four sequential phases: Engagement and Team Preparation, Initial Plan Development, Implementation, and Transition.
Engagement and Team Preparation
This phase focuses on relationship-building and establishing trust between the family and the Wraparound facilitator. The facilitator works with the family to identify their strengths, needs, and cultural considerations. They also recruit the initial members of the Wraparound team, including both formal and natural supports. This phase is crucial for setting a collaborative tone and ensuring the family feels heard and respected.
Initial Plan Development
The full Wraparound team meets to create a single, comprehensive Plan of Care. The team defines a shared vision for the family’s future and develops specific, measurable goals based on identified needs. A core component of this phase is the creation of a crisis and safety plan, detailing immediate actions and resources for times of heightened stress. The customized plan outlines the strategies and interventions each team member will provide.
Implementation
The team puts the Plan of Care into action and monitors its effectiveness. Team meetings occur frequently to track progress against established outcome measures and to address any new challenges that arise. The plan is a living document, continuously reviewed and revised if strategies are ineffective, ensuring accountability and responsiveness. This phase continues until the team agrees that the family has achieved its long-term vision and no longer requires formal Wraparound support.
Transition
This final phase prepares the family for life after formal Wraparound services end. The team systematically decreases the intensity of formal supports while strengthening the family’s reliance on natural supports and community resources. A formal transition plan is developed to ensure the family can maintain their success and progress independently. This phase is complete when the family is fully connected to their community and formal system support is successfully withdrawn.
Target Populations and Integrated Service Components
Wraparound services are primarily utilized by children and youth with serious emotional or behavioral disturbances. These individuals are often at high risk of out-of-home placements, such as residential treatment or psychiatric hospitalization, and are typically involved with multiple public systems (e.g., child welfare, juvenile justice, and special education). The model is designed to manage the complex needs of families who require coordinated support across these different agencies.
The integrated service components are highly varied, reflecting the individualized nature of the model. These components are determined entirely by the family’s needs assessment, not by the availability of a single agency’s programs. A single plan may combine formal mental health interventions, such as evidence-based therapy, with practical, non-clinical supports. Examples include housing assistance, parent peer support, educational advocacy, job coaching for older youth, and respite care for caregivers. The plan strategically blends these formal services with the activation of natural supports, ensuring a holistic and comprehensive approach.