CB, age 11, and his Foster Family, began the Wraparound process in March 2017. CB’s behavior was described as argumentative and disrespectful towards authority figures such as his Caregivers and Teachers, having physical altercations with his Foster Siblings and Peers, low frustration tolerance, failing most of his classes at school, and being angry most of the time. Wraparound was initiated to help CB gain anger management skills, to reduce instances of displaying verbal and physical aggression, assist with his educational needs, and to improve CB’s relationships with his Foster Siblings, Caregivers, and Peers. With the support and guidance of his Foster Family and the Wraparound Team, CB began his journey towards success by learning to identify his strengths and appropriately share his needs. CB worked with his Wraparound Team to gain effective communication skills, improve his self-esteem, and learn to manage difficult emotions like fear, frustration, and anger.
The team was able to support CB by using several principles of the Wraparound program such as “Team Based” and “Collaboration” were role modeled for CB as he worked with his Wraparound Team members cooperatively and experienced a shared responsibility for developing, implementing, and evaluating his own Wraparound Treatment Plan. The Treatment Plan also focused on using the “Strengths Based” and “Individualized” principles by identifying and building upon CB’s and his Caregiver’s strengths that drove the creation of personalized strategies, supports, and services. Throughout this process, CB demonstrated an interest in making the necessary changes to improve his behaviors and expressed a desire to have better relationships with his Family and Peers.
CB admitted that the work was hard, but he was committed to improving himself. CB demonstrated his growth by using his new copings skills to help his Foster Siblings manage their own difficult emotions by sharing his games, toys, basketball jerseys, and candy with them; something he was not able to do in the past. CB also overcame other challenges by learning to express himself and his needs appropriately to his Teachers and Caregivers, thus being able get the assistance he needed. CB began to show improvement in school by receiving grades of “A’s” and “B’s” and positive reports from school. CB also was able to experience joy from having positive relationship with his Foster Siblings and Peers.
When CB and his Foster Family graduated from Wraparound in January of 2018, family and community members as well as school personnel had begun to use words such as “Team Leader, a positive role model, and loving” to describe his behaviors and interactions . CB continued to receive positive reports from school, his Caregivers, and most importantly, CB gave positive reports about himself as he gained self-acceptance and esteem. The Oak Grove Team is very proud of the hard work, dedication, and persistence CB demonstrated throughout the process as well as the healthy relationships he built along with strategies for success.
