Fresh Steps is proud to be a part of the National Wraparound Initiative in Helena, Montana. High-Fidelity Wraparound (HFW) has been in Montana since 2010, and started in Helena in January of 2011. States all over the country have been implementing this evidence-based practice as a part of a national initiative to help families achieve better outcomes, and costs states less with regard to long-term placements for children in residential treatment facilities, such as group homes and in-patient psychiatric hospitals.
The PRTF Waiver is the funding source for High-Fidelity Wraparound services, and once application is made and approved, families enjoy strenghts based treatment, with goals they develop, while learning how to do their own crisis planning, safety planning, and run their own family meetings.
At the core of HFW is the family's needs and strengths. Professional supports are provided and can include the Facilitator, who helps the family organize and run meetings, Family Support, therapy, and most importantly, Peer to Peer services. In some cases, a peer may be another family member or close friend. The family decides who will be on their team, and who needs to attend different meetings. There is more flexibility with treatment as there can be up to an average of 5 hours per week of therapy, if needed. There is also money available to help families engage in healthy activities like memberships.
For more information about the PRTF Waiver, please visit:
http://www.dphhs.mt.gov/mentalhealth/children/prtfwaiver.shtml
For more information about the National Wraparound Initiative, please visit:
http://www.nwi.pdx.edu/
