Wraparound With Intensive Services (WISe)

Wraparound with Intensive Services (WISe) provides intensive mental health services within a wraparound team structure for children and youth involved in multiple systems. It’s available to Medicaid-eligible children/youth from birth to age 21.

Program Features

The Focus of WISe

  • Provide intensive mental health services to help youth and families achieve wellness, safety, and strong relationships within their communities.
  • Develop a single plan, based on strengths and needs. The plan is guided and driven by the youth and family using a team. Team members include natural supports and professionals who work with the family.
  • Provide support to the family and youth at times and locations that work best for the youth and family.
  • Provide access to crisis services at any time of the day, 365 days a year.

How WISe Works

THS provides Wraparound services in accordance with the National Wraparound Initiative and the Ten Principles of Wraparound. THS Wraparound staff meet with participants and designated family members to identify strengths, assess needs across all life domains, create mutual goals, and develop an initial crisis plan.

A Wraparound Team is comprised of significant individuals involved in the participant’s life. Team members include natural supports (family, friends, religious leaders) and the professionals who work with your family (counselors, nurses/doctors, schools, CPS, and probation officers).

This team becomes the driving force behind creating an individualized care plan that covers different aspects of the individual’s life. They establish objectives that are directly related to team goals and priorities. The team empowers participants to access a range of resources, including supports tailored to meet the team’s determined needs.

Your team works with you to develop an individualized care plan that respects your strengths and needs and aligns with your family’s culture, values, norms, and preferences.

Your youth/young adult and family guide drives the plan, utilizing professional team members, as needed.

Benefits of WISe

  • Care is customized to meet the needs of the individual youth/young adult, your family’s needs and circumstances, and the specifics of the current crisis plan.
  • Keeps youth/young adults and families together and develops family communication and interaction skills.
  • Instills hope and strengthens connections among youth/young adults, their parents, and their siblings.

Who Can Receive WISe?

WISe is designed to provide comprehensive behavioral health services and supports to Medicaid-eligible individuals who are up to 21 years of age with complex behavioral health needs and their families.

Referring to WISe

You can refer a youth/young adult for a WISe screen at any time. Parents can initiate treatment, but after age 13, a child must consent to services. You should consider referring your youth/young adult for a WISe screen if they are:

  • In Special Education and/or has a 504 Plan with multiple school suspensions for mental health and/or behavioral issues.
  • Involved in multiple systems (i.e., mental health, child welfare (CPS), juvenile justice, developmental disabilities services, and/or substance use disorder treatment), and the systems are struggling to support your child together.
  • Experiencing hard-to-understand behaviors that are challenging to you, other caregivers, or other therapists/clinicians, and traditional services alone are not helping.
father and son sitting on a log talking

When You Should Look to WISe

  • You’re a frequent user of the crisis line or emergency rooms due to your child’s mental health.
  • Your child is experiencing challenging, hard-to-understand behaviors, and traditional services are not helping.
  • Your child is displaying an elevated risk of harm to themselves or others.
  • You need a more intensive, individualized approach for your child.
  • You need a more flexible and engaging approach for your child.
  • Your child is involved in more than one service system, and the system(s) are struggling with supporting the youth in a coordinated way.
  • Your child is in Special Education and/or has a 504 Plan, with multiple school suspensions for mental health and/or behavioral issues.

The WISe program helped my child so much. The way the program creates a team of caring adults to surround and support everyone involved was so powerful. There is much more understanding in our family now, and my child is doing so much better.

Olivia