Best Practices in Wraparound: A Multidimensional View of the Evidence

Abstract

This article presents a systematic review of the effectiveness of wraparound, a value-guided, widely used service planning process and philosophy of care originally developed for children with serious emotional disturbance and their families. In contrast to conventional systematic reviews, which concentrate on the empirical literature, this article uses the multidimensional evidence-based practice approach, which adds professional knowledge and consumer perspectives to a value-critical analysis. The findings contextualize the limited empirical support for wraparound within a social work value frame, suggesting areas of improvement for the implementation of the wraparound model. A broader ecological frame for wraparound highlights the need to include more natural supports on teams, to ensure backing from higher level administrators, and to emphasize client self-determination. Youths and families should be afforded leadership roles on teams and be supported by parent advocates. To extend the empowerment idea of wraparound beyond the individual case level, a clear commitment to social justice by working toward systems changes must be added.