Wraparound Model Research Articles

Combined B-spline Surface Reconstruction of a Class of Wrap-around Models

For the large wrap-around surface, it is difficult to parameterize the data due to without obvious rectangular boundaries. Meanwhile, the modeling process is inefficient since it involves frequent manual operations. Therefore, a method of combined B-spline surface reconstruction is proposed. First, a method of recognizing the projection axis from sampled points is given, and these points in physical space are projected to two-dimensional space by using the mapping method. Consequently, the boundary curve is divided into four boundary curve segments according to the characteristic of the boundary curve, and then region segmentations and quick parameterizations of points are realized by utilizing Coons surface forms. B-spline surface patches are further reconstructed from segmented point sets. This modeling strategy is very helpful to improving the efficiency and automation of modeling process. In addition, in the process of constructing combined surfaces, a smooth blending method with G1 geometric continuity is provided between two adjacent patches. Examples verify the feasibility and validity of the proposed modeling and blending methods for combined surface reconstruction.

Future systemic transformations

This final article addresses the need to create further evidence that the integration of student support and after-school programming enhances student learning and thriving inside and outside schools. Many models are being put forward to address student support, but research findings on their effectiveness have been surprisingly mixed and designs have often been flawed. When interventions are tied to classrooms and support students, teachers, and administrators, an increase in effectiveness can be expected as compared to a wrap-around model that leaves the classroom and much of the school day as the sole domain of teachers. The authors describe the next steps for the RALLY approach, especially the creation of a train-the-trainer model for school districts, after-school programs, and mental health agencies.

Transnational social work: using a wraparound model

AbstractIn this article, we explore the wraparound approach of service delivery as a model for transnational social work. The wraparound model, used primarily within community‐based children's mental health services and child protection initiatives, has been effective when planning services for clients and their families with complicated needs, whose care has to be provided within a multiple provider context. Most social work is delivered nationally or internationally rather than trans‐nationally. In the article we outline how the model could be structured to meet the particular needs of transmigrants, including the involvement of NGOs and INGOs, and identify key obstacles and limitations.

Community Kids Wraparound Mental Health Program: An Effective Approach to Working with Families in Crisis

This article presents findings from the five-year evaluation of a youth wraparound mental health program called Community Kids. The structure of the program, sociological theories underlying the philosophy of wraparound, and the context of the mental health system prior to program implementation are discussed. Included are utilization trends from inception through program termination. The impact analysis is presented in terms of five outcome domains for three participant cohorts, defined by tenure in the program. This longitudinal quasi-experimental research provides additional evidence of the efficacy of systems of care and the wraparound model in terms of improving clinical outcomes for youth.

Who Administers Wraparound?

The wraparound care management process has been cited as a promising means for making evidence-based treatments relevant and accessible to youth with mental health needs and their families. However, there has been little research on the background and training of providers who participate on wraparound teams. In the current study, the authors examined the prevalence of wraparound implementation nationally in systems of care and the background,training,organizational supports, and perceptions of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) for professionals who implement wraparound. Results suggest that wraparound implementation is common across communities and that wraparound providers are different from other professionals.They are,for example,less likely to have an advanced degree, more likely to have received their training from agency inservices, less likely to receive manuals with their training, and more likely to report fully implementing treatment protocols.Wraparound providers are also more likely to report that their agency or organization mandated implementation of EBTs. Results provide several implications for wraparound model specification, development of quality assurance supports, and a need for higher education to better orient trainees to models and philosophies such as wraparound.

Relations Between Program and System Variables and Fidelity to the Wraparound Process for Children and Families

Past research and experience have indicated that characteristics of organizations and service systems influence the quality of mental health services delivery. The study aimed to illuminate such associations by examining the relationship between a set of program- and system-level variables and fidelity to the wraparound model for children and families. A measure of fidelity to the wraparound process for children and families (the Wraparound Fidelity Index) was administered to families receiving services in eight mental health agencies across the United States. Program administrators at each agency also completed by telephone a standardized interview for assessing program and system conditions hypothesized to influence quality of implementation (Program Administrator version of the Wraparound Fidelity Index). Regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between program and system variables and fidelity. Results of interviews with program administrators revealed substantial variation across programs in the number and type of program and system supports for wraparound implementation. Regression analyses found a significant association between the number of organizational and system supports and Wraparound Fidelity Index scores. Results support the hypothesized relationship between program and system conditions and the quality of service delivery. Results also highlight the importance of engineering the system and organizational context (maintaining low caseload sizes, establishing interagency partnerships, and implementing accountability mechanisms) in order to provide a solid foundation for high-quality wraparound to children and families.

Relations Between Program and System Variables and Fidelity to the Wraparound Process for Children and Families

Relations Between Program and System Variables and Fidelity to the Wraparound Process for Children and Families

WebLingu@: blended English language learning

For the acquisition of a second language the World Wide Web offers an abundance of learning resources that can provide opportunities for meaningful, realistic, contextualized language activities. This paper presents the WebLingu@ project of blended English language courses, which have been designed and developed by the University of Siena Language Centre (CLA) on the FaD (Formazione a Distanza) platform. To exploit the potential of Internet resources, WebLingu@ consists of a multi-level English language resource constructed through the process of evaluation, organization and effective application of web activities. The basis for the blended course design is a wrap-around syllabus model (Mason, 1998), using the core of existing Internet resources wrapped or complemented with printed materials, online tutor support and limited face-to-face lessons. The integration of a collaboration workspace is a key factor for the development of a virtual learning community, which increases group cohesion and second language discourse production (Kasper, 1999). Overall, this paper aims to present a case study of online educational methods that support second language acquisition, as applied to online English courses at the University of Siena.

Three States, Three Views Of Public MH Crisis

Three States, Three Views Of Public MH Crisis

Lorenz Curves: A New Model for the Distribution of Psychiatric Services

The growth of child and adolescent psychiatric services based on the wraparound philosophy raises new questions for medical directors, investigators, and clinicians interested in improving quality of care and outcomes. Typically, quality improvement studies have focused on standardizing care and decreasing variation while community based services following a wraparound model are by definition individualized. To date, little information on how to evaluate such services in a managed care environment has been available. We present one option for evaluating the distribution of medical services and the extent to which providers individualize services for children with severe emotional disorders. Specifically, we (a) review the philosophy and goals of wraparound services, (b) introduce the Lorenz curve as a tool for determining the degree of inequality in service distribution at a given institution, and (c) present a case study on the use of Lorenz curves by a Medicaid Behavioral Health Organization in profiling behavioral providers.

Behavioral Risk Management: Supporting Individuals with Developmental Disabilities Who Exhibit Inappropriate Sexual Behaviors

Community-based services to address inappropriate and offensive sexual behaviors are perhaps the least developed of all interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities. This article describes Behavioral Risk Management (BRM), a community-based, wraparound model, that incorporates both internal and external management strategies to meet the unique needs of adolescent and adult males with developmental disabilities who exhibit inappropriate or offensive sexual behaviors. Key components of BRM are risk assessment and risk management support planning, teaching new skills and alternative behaviors, environmental arrangements and supervision, and monitoring systems. Although still a work in progress, the model has enabled men with developmental disabilities who exhibit inappropriate or offensive sexual behaviors to live safely in the community, while ensuring community safety.

The Complexities of Implementing a Wraparound Approach to Service Provision: A View from the Field

SUMMARY The authors offer the perspective of several service providers on the benefits and barriers encountered in implementing the wraparound model within the context of a federally funded project to enhance a local system of care. The Pitt Edgecombe Nash-Public Academic Liaison project was instituted in three rural counties in Eastern North Carolina. A hallmark of this program was the role of families as treatment partners with the emphasis on collaboration among agencies, families and service providers. The actual process is organized by a service coordinator and led by an individual service team. While implementing the wraparound model, benefits and barriers were encountered at all levels of intervention. The authors suggest that quality-monitoring efforts should include the task of assessing implementation on an ongoing basis with an emphasis on analysis of the barriers and benefits encountered and subsequent midstream corrections to improve the wraparound model for each individual community.

Promoting Justice in the Delivery of Services to Juvenile Delinquents: The Ecosystemic Natural Wrap-Around Model

Caught between their child and doing the “right thing,” families of chronic juvenile delinquents often experience a series of injustices in the name of justice. Attempts by the “system” to correct the delinquency problem often result in the imposition of values and beliefs that negate the family's values, experiences and meanings of their child's behavior. The Ecosystemic Natural Wrap-around (E.N.W.) model attempts to respectfully account for the many influences that maintain problematic interactions, both internal and external, in the nuclear family of chronic juvenile delinquents. The model focuses on a variety of interventions at different levels and contexts, building on the strengths of the family, using the extended family and fictive kin networks, and clarifying the meanings associated with “problematic” behavior for the multiple players. The model proposed is an integrative theoretical approach, emphasizing systems theory and constructivism.

Wrapping services in an urban setting

Efforts to reform services for children and their families in Baltimore City have included providing Wraparound services to youth returned or diverted from out-of-state residential treatment. We briefly present the history and evolution of the system reform efforts in Baltimore City that were necessary to support the implementation of a Wraparound model of service delivery. The characteristics of the Wraparound service model is presented along with the referral pathway of the youth into the service system, the components of the service delivery system and an overview of step-down services and linkages utilized to transition the youth. Data are presented that demonstrate the level of community adjustment of a subset of the 121 youth served through the Wraparound model in contrast to the level of community adjustment achieved by nonequivalent comparison groups. We discuss the use of “report card” type of outcome measures, its user-friendly features, limitations, and the developmental steps needed to refine it further.