Wraparound Maine

By Michael Edwards
Wraparound Maine State Coordinator

We welcome you to the Wraparound Maine Website! It is our wish that this site will become one of your first destinations on the internet for useful information about the Wraparound Maine initiative and for convenient access to the latest information on wraparound research and practice.

By Jim Beougher
Director, Office of Child and Family Services  Maine DHHS 

In 1991, I first learned about the wraparound process and organized my first family team meeting that same year. I focused on a group of ten children in long term foster care in a rural community. Those children had been in a total of 36 placements within the past year, and in more than 50 placements while in the public agency's care. All were at high risk of being removed from their current caregiver. Using the wraparound process, there were two placement changes in the next two years for this group of children.  

Wraparound Maine is a statewide, multi-site initiative that complements and enhances existing collaborative service planning approaches in Maine (Child and Family Teams, Family Team Meetings and Family and Systems Teams), and supports an integrated planning approach for youth with complex needs. The target population for this Initiative includes multi-agency involved children and youth, ages 5-18, with serious emotional or behavioral disturbance who are either in residential care or at high risk of such placement. Youth involved with the Child Welfare or Children’s Behavioral Health systems or meeting Department of Education special education requirements are eligible up to age 21.