News

Contact: Maria Ramirez

Consultants from the state-level System of Care Wraparound Initiative (SOCWI) visited Klamath Falls on Dec. 1 to present information about the new service through the Oregon Health Authority and Cascade Health Alliance (CHA), which will begin development on Jan. 1, 2017.

Mark Zubaty, a SOCWI consultant from Portland State University, opened the event with an explanation of the terms "systems of care" and "wraparound" for the audience, which included stakeholders from the Department of Human Services, Sky Lakes Medical Center, Klamath Basin Behavioral Health, Lutheran Community Services, Klamath-Lake Community Action Services, and other community organizations.

"We're excited to bring this new service to Klamath County," said Maggie Polson, CHA's Vice President of Service Operations. "This is an excellent opportunity to collaborate with our community partners to ensure that we offer the best services to our members."

A "system of care," Zubaty explained, is a spectrum of effective, community-based services and supports for children and youth with, or at risk of, serious challenges in their families. In order to help those youth function in all areas of their lives, the system would include services that are organized into a coordinated network, builds meaningful partnerships with families and youth, and addresses cultural and linguistic needs.

Zubaty offered a similar definition for wraparound care, saying the two terms are often interchangeable; wraparound is an intensive, holistic method of engaging with children, youth, and their families so that they can live in their homes and communities and realize their hopes and dreams.

The event served as a launch for wraparound services efforts in Klamath County, which will begin development in the new year, bringing together a variety of community partners with technical assistance from the SOCWI consultants.

To offer event attendees a fuller picture of wraparound care services, presentations were also made by Caitlin Baird from Youth MOVE Oregon about the importance of including the youth voice at the table and in the decision-making process, as well as from Shannon Boyette from the Oregon Family Support Network, who focused on family-driven care.

For more information about the System of Care Wraparound Initiative, visit the website www.oregon.gov/oha/amh/Pages/wraparound.aspx.

Additional information:

Wraparound care is guided by a set of 10 core principles:

• Family voice and choice. Planning is grounded in family members' perspectives, and the team strives to provide options and choices such that the plan reflects family values and preferences.
• Team based. The wraparound team consists of individuals agreed upon by the family and committed to them through informal, formal, and community support and service relationships.
• Natural supports. Planning reflects activities and interventions that draw on the sources of natural supports.
• Team members work cooperatively and share responsibility for developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating the plan. It reflects a blending of team members' perspectives, mandates, and resources.
• Community-based. Service and support strategies take place in the most inclusive, most responsive, most accessible, and least restrictive settings possible; they safely promote child and family integration into home and community life.
• Culturally competent. The wraparound process demonstrates respect for and builds on the values, preferences, beliefs, culture, and identity of the child and family, and their community.
• The team develops and implements a customized set of strategies, supports, and services.
• Strengths based. The wraparound process and plan identify, build on, and enhance the capabilities, knowledge, skills, and assets of the child and family, their community, and other team members.
• Despite challenges, the team persists in working toward the goals included in the plan until the team reaches agreement that a formal wraparound process is no longer required.
• Outcome based. The team ties the goals and strategies of the plan to observable or measurable indicators of success, monitors progress in terms of these indicators, and revises the plan accordingly.

Information from: www.oregon.gov/oha/amh/wraparound/docs/summary-soc-values.pdf.

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