![]() How is this different from what is already happening? It’s not like parents aren’t involved in their child’s education or medical information doesn’t get relayed to school personnel. But, what if that’s the very reason wraparound services could work? We know that schools are the best place to provide the service, but rather than asking them to own, determine and organize ALL the services a student might need, let’s get the village involved. ![]() There isn’t a lot of wiggle room to fund the staff and resources to build the school programs of our dreams. The reality is that school funding is tight, and it is designated to go to certain places. What if we take this concept of wraparound services and apply it to all students? What if the student doesn’t have to have an identified disability in order for us to think about their care in this way? Okay, okay, let’s talk about the elephant in the room for a minute. So how do we get students the mental health services they need, provide them in the place they are, and coordinate with everyone in their lives so services are the most impactful and generalizable as possible? The idea Once children are outside of the school day, they have various other engagements, life stressors, guardians who might work evenings, and mental health professionals with very few appointments outside of school hours. School enrollment is required for children under each state’s designated age of majority. And completely independent of the above ideal learning conditions - children are IN school. And, all that time they are observed by staff who interact with hundreds of other students and have many points of reference for “average” behavior. They experience challenges, frustration points, successes, social interactions, and learn new skills: all the things that create opportunities to observe mental health skills. What if we evolve the idea even more specifically as it applies to mental health in schools? Schools are the ideal place for delivering mental health servicesĬhildren spend large sections of their day there. Because of its success and sheer common sense, the concept of wraparound services is now considered the standard of care for students whose current school, family, medical and community supports need to coordinate to ensure students are receiving cohesive services that are building off of each other and not independent or, at worst, actually contradicting each other. They started as a way to coordinate care for significantly disabled students who needed considerable physical, academic, and behavioral support in all of their life settings. ![]() Wraparound services already have a history of evolving. ![]() But, what if we could take that concept, rethink it, and apply it to a larger group of children using modern strategies? Most of us don’t even stop to think about what that means: they are services that wraparound the student, right? More or less, yes. All contributors are selected by the SmartBrief Education editorial team.Īnyone working with students who receive therapeutic services both in and out of school has heard the term wraparound services. Insights is a SmartBrief Education Originals column that features perspectives from noted experts and leaders in education on hot-button issues affecting schools and districts.
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