Getting System-Involved Youth The Support They Need

Young people in the foster care system have unique needs that the mainstream mental health system is often poorly setup to address. The truth of the matter is that these kids need everything we can give them.

While the term “wraparound” can be used to describe a variety of methodologies, at its core it must be a collaborative, inter-agency approach to serve children and families that is:

• Proximate: Services delivered in home, at school, or in the community.
• Individualized: The approach is customized for the individual, strength-based, and team-based.
• Unconditional: There is an absolute commitment to the youth’s success.
• Embedded: Delivery moves across life domains (such as family, living situation, education, psychological and emotional health, physical health, and more).

Furthermore, effective wraparound services must be clinically articulated but not necessarily clinically driven, culturally concordant, and created with flexible access to funding.

Our series of four papers lay out the history, opportunities, arguments for, and implementation of wraparound services for California’s young people.

Wraparound Paper 1

DECEMBER 2022: Wrapping Our Youth With the Supports They Need to Thrive

This issue memo provides a clear case for the necessity of wraparound services, along with providing a concise look at the history, progress, and future of wraparound in California.

Wraparound Paper 2

MAY 2023: California’s Bold Commitment

This memo presents a detailed look at how the groundwork for increased access to community-based mental health services—and specifically wraparound— already exists through recent innovations and policy changes and how these services can be structured and delivered with a three- tiered approach.

Wraparound Paper 3

JUNE 2023: The Case for Wraparound

The case for wraparound: good news, potential challenges, and how to get system-involved young people absolutely everything they need.

Wraparound Paper 4

March 2024: Making Every Dollar Count

How implementation best practices for new and evolving youth mental health reforms have the opportunity to meaningfully expand access to wraparound.