Community Schools: New Perspectives on the Wraparound Approach

Abstract

An increasing number of children and youth have mental health disorders. To address this issue, federal and provincial mental health policymakers in Canada have recommended: (a) improving the coordination of services, and (b) increasing the role that schools play in providing supports. One way to operationalize these recommendations is to implement the wraparound approach in the context of a full-service community school. This qualitative, multiple-case study of three community schools in Manitoba, Canada, explores the experiences of stakeholders in community schools as they relate to support for children and youth with mental health disorders and their families. The findings indicate that community schools engage in practices that align with the 10 guiding principles of wraparound. Given the broad-based partnerships in community schools and their focus on collaborative action, they hold promise as sites with the potential to lead the implementation of the wraparound approach.

Education-Centred Formal Wraparound Services in Support of School-Aged Students With Complex Support Needs: A Systematic Review

“…Fallon and Mueller (2017) considered wraparound as part of an ecological system, emphasising that efficacy increased when culturally responsive integration extended across components. Bartlett and Freeze (2018) found that the community school model aligned well with the principles of wraparound, and Charlton et al (2018) suggested that an integrated system of positive behavioural interventions and support, response to intervention, and Tier 3 wraparound was a model that offered many benefits. Kern et al (2017) cited evidence that having a mental health centre integrated into the school increased the efficiency of wraparound by increasing accessibility to essential services.…”

“…One of the most frequently cited barriers to wraparound success was the low competency of the facilitator or case manager (Anderson et al, 2010;Bartlett & Freeze, 2018;Maximoff et al, 2017). Other studies indicated there was a lack of commitment of adult stakeholders (Anderson et al, 2010) or a school culture that did not reflect a child-centred and strength-based philosophy (Anderson et al, 2010;Maximoff et al, 2017).…”

“…The absence of resources such as school-based mental health services and a lack of support for collaborative practice at school, systems, and government levels were also identified as barriers (Anderson et al, 2010;Bartlett, 2018;Maximoff et al, 2017). The other two factors mentioned were a lack of agency partners in remote areas and a lack of adequate outcomebased measures (Bartlett & Freeze, 2018).…”

“…Anderson (2016) and Bartlett and Freeze (2018) noted the difficulties in finding valid ways to measure wraparound. Kazak et al (2010) asserted that wraparound efficacy could be enhanced by longitudinal assessment of relevant aspects of students' lives.…”

A collaboratively produced model of service design for children and young people with common mental health problems

“…Secondly, our model also emphasises the importance of balancing confidentiality against safeguarding and CYP's autonomy, especially in school-based services. Schools are often seen as ideal places for mental health services [10,[40][41][42] because they are accessible, closely connected to the community, and relevant staff have daily contact with, and are likely to be trusted by, CYP. Moreover, as non-medical sites, they may be less stigmatising.…”