Lutheran Services Florida
Behavioral health supervisors, case managers, therapists, system leaders and peers converged at Meridian Behavioral Healthcare in Lake City in late January for High Fidelity Wraparound Training. Wraparound is a behavioral health service delivery model that focuses on an individual’s strengths, needs and the culture of the family. It involves supporting the family by developing an integrated plan for a person’s behavioral health needs. It is designed to teach family skills and the confidence to be independent. It’s different from other delivery strategies and provides a holistic, youth and family-driven way of responding to mental health and behavioral challenges. People in Wraparound treatment tend to have better outcomes regarding mental health as well as better functioning at home, in school and in the community. This saves money by minimizing the time that young people spend in out-of-home facilities like residential treatment centers or psychiatric hospitals, which can cost $1000 – $3000 per day.
The training is intensive and divided into two sessions. The first part is the three-day live face-to-face training. The High-Fidelity Model provides instructions on the skills needed to implement its ten principles, four phases, theory of change, staff roles, behavioral rehearsal and the supervision of Wraparound. The second part is once monthly coaching that is offered to obtain certification.
This training is important as it helps provide structure and practical application to keep children and families in their communities. After being out of the community, it is often hard for children to come back and do well in their home communities and schools. However, the collaboration between local child service providers, the Florida Department of Children and Families and LSF Health Systems (LSF) helps minimize barriers for the child and ensures a holistic and family-centered approach. This year, LSF has conducted four trainings to-date while 9 trainings were conducted last fiscal year. Below are some comments from participants:
- “I learned so much about the Strengths, Needs and Cultural Discovery Assessment Tool, how to properly create SMART Goals and how Wraparound helps my families.”
- “I learned how important it is to include the family, draw from their strengths and that needs are not necessarily services. I will be providing services differently to include more support and delegate responsibility to empower my client.”
- “I learned how to go deeper in my questioning from my assessments.”
- “I will start my job ahead of the game because of this training.”
- “I understand the difference between Wraparound as a process and Wraparound services.”
- “Because of this training, I break up my treatment planning into multiple sessions to gather the most information during assessment.”
- “I learned the true meaning of teamwork.”
