Wraparound - Stark County Family Council

Overview of the WrapAround Process

In the past, when families experienced challenges raising their children, they often had to struggle on their own with little community support. Problems often escalated to a point that their children had to leave their home to ensure the health and safety for all in the family. Today, in Stark County there is another option. Community supports and resources can be brought to the family through the WrapAround process.

Stark County has adopted the WrapAround process as a means of assisting children and families. The process is strengths based and family focused, family driven. Family Council Facilitators assist the family and their Team in developing a creative plan for providing the necessary WrapAround services for their child and their family, identifying ways for the family to be successful. All information is held in the strictest confidence, and not discussed outside the Team process without the family's permission.

Over the past several years, the number of CCO/Child &Family Team meetings has increased dramatically. This process is working to help keep families together, and it is supported by many community partners.

The wraparound process is a way to improve the lives of children and youth with complex needs (a.k.a. “challenges”) and their families. It is not a program or a type of service. The process is used by communities to support children and youth with complex needs (a.k.a. “challenges”) and their families by developing individualized plans of care. The key characteristics of the process are that the plan is developed by a family centered team, is individualized based on the strengths and culture of the youth and their family, and its needs (a.k.a. “challenges”) rather than services driven.

Each plan is based on the unique strengths, needs (a.k.a. “challenges”), values, norms, preferences, and culture of the youth, family, and community. No interventions are allowed in the plan unless they have matching youth, family, and community strengths. By building on these strengths, the plan supports who the youth is and how the youth will positively progress in life. The plan is focused on typical needs (a.k.a. “challenges”) in life domain areas that all persons (of like age, sex, culture) have. These life domains are: independence, family, living situation, financial, educational/vocational, social/recreational, behavioral/emotional, psychological, health, legal, cultural, safety, and others.

All services and supports must be culturally competent. That is to say, services and supports must be tailored to the unique culture of the youth and family. Family culture refers to family race and ethnicity as well as family habits, preferences, beliefs, language, rituals, dress, and rules at the “one family at a time level”.

The youth and family team and agency staff who provide services and supports must make a commitment to persistence in delivery of services and supports. When things do not go well, the youth and family are not “kicked out”, but rather, the individualized services and supports are changed.

Services and supports are community-based whenever possible. When residential treatment or hospitalization is accessed, these service modalities are to be used as stabilization resources and not as placements that operate outside of the plan produced by the youth and family team. Planning, services, and supports cut across traditional agency boundaries through multi-agency involvement and funding. Governments at regional and local levels work together with providers to improve services. Outcome measures are identified and individual wraparound plans are frequently evaluated.

There are several “levels” of WrapAround services available to families in Stark County:

Child & Family Teams (CFT):

The goal of the CFT is to bring children and families who are experiencing problems, usually involving a single system, together to create a wraparound plan that identifies, mobilizes, and coordinates an array of community services and supports. The family and their Team then work to implement the plan and monitor their progress. At least one-half of the membership of the Team is comprised of natural informal supports for the child and family. These people have access to informal resources and supports and are committed to a long-term support of the child and family. Begin the process by contacting the WrapAround Coordinator, Sherri McKinney-Frantz, at the Stark County Family Council, 330-455-1225 ext 305.

The actual individualized plan is developed by a wraparound team, who consist of the four to eight people who care and know the youth and family best, including the youth and family. The team is selected by the youth and family and typically has no more than half professionals, and would often include other youth. The individualized plan is child centered and family focused with maximum family involvement, with variation depending on the needs (a.k.a. “challenges”) of the youth and family. The process focuses on strengthening the natural family, extended family and social supports for the youth by involving them in the planning and implementation process. The youth and family are integral parts of the team and must have ownership of the plan. No planning sessions occur without the presence of the youth and family.

CCO - Creative Community Options:

The goal of the CCO is to bring children and families who are experiencing complex problems involving two or more systems together with helpful providers and advocates. The CCO team creates a wraparound plan that identifies, mobilizes, and coordinates an array of community services and supports. The family and their Team then work to implement the plan and monitor their progress. In most cases, the child or family's case manager will work with them to initiate the CCO process. Advocates, teachers, friends or interested others may also begin the process by contacting the CCO Coordinator, Canice Tolin, at the Stark County Family Council, 330-455-1225 ext. 302.

Adult & Transitional Youth Teams (ATY):

The goal of the ATY is to bring a Team together to assist in the development of a wraparound plan that identifies, mobilizes, and coordinates an array of community services and supports that the family/transitional youth need to be successful. Focus is on: parents with mental illness who are actively parenting; youth with mental illness who are transitioning from the child serving systems to adult systems and who have been in residential care; adults with mental illness who have co-occuring conditions and/or frequent hospitalizations. Begin the process by contacting the Adult & Transitional Youth Coordinator, Marnie Eisenbrei, at the Stark County Family Council, 330-455-1225 ext. 235.