Wraparound has become a predominant tool for implementing interagency systems of care. The system of care concept was developed in the mid-1980s as a response to (a) a dearth of mental health and other services for students; (b) the fragmentation of services across mental health, education, child welfare and juvenile justice services; and (c) the history of poor outcomes for students with emotional disturbance and their families. The key idea behind the development of a system of care was a coordinated network of community-based services that is organized to meet student and family needs rather than agency needs.
Families comprising a parent, child, or youth who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, two-spirit (LGBTQI2-S) or transitioning navigate
varying levels of acceptance and support when accessing and utilizing needed services within the mental health system.
Search page for resources from Child Welfare Information Gateway, the Children’s Bureau (CB), CB-funded projects, and other leading organizations in child welfare.
A system of care is: A spectrum of effective, community-based services and supports for children and youth with or at risk for mental health or other challenges and their families, that is organized into a coordinated network, builds meaningful partnerships with families and youth, and addresses their cultural and linguistic needs, in order to help them to function better at home, in school, in the community, and throughout life.
PACT for Families Collaborative is a five county partnership which operates as a Children’s Mental Health Collaborative, and a Family Services Collaborative
The landscape for the organization and financing of behavioral health services for children and adolescents is rapidly shifting in the United States as a result
of state and local budgetary pressures, large-scale Medicaid redesign initiatives in states, and opportunities and challenges posed by national health reform
