Why a CMO?
Our work is grounded in keeping youth safe, healthy and connected, and keeping families strong. We do this by building teams comprised of family, friends and community partners all working towards the same goal. All CMOs are a part of the New Jersey Children’s System of Care and we coordinate services and create plans tailored to every child’s individual needs and based on strengths of all team members involved, to positively impact the youth’s wellbeing. Ultimately, we aim to empower families with the voice, tools and support they need to be successful.
How Do We Do This?
A care management organization’s work is grounded in keeping youth healthy, well, and safe, while keeping families strong. Our approach includes the Wraparound model of care, which will be facilitated by your Care Manager. Your Care Manager will help you develop a team to support your child. Your Care Manager will help you develop a team to support your child. The team may include members of your family, friends, community members, and various treatment providers. Your Care Manager will work with this team to develop a plan that capitalizes on the strengths of the team and ultimately helps your family meet its goals and overall vision.
Wraparound Model of Care
To assist with the coordination of services, each CMO utilizes the Wraparound model of care which is built on ten principles:
1. Family Voice and Choice
Family and youth perspectives are intentionally elicited and prioritized during all phases of the Wraparound process. Planning is grounded in family members’ perspectives, and the team strives to provide options and choices such that the plan reflects the family values and preferences.
2. Team Based
The Wraparound team consists of individuals agreed upon by the family and committed to them through informal, formal, and community support and services relationships.
3. Natural Supports
The team actively seeks out and encourages the full participation of team members drawn from family members’ networks of interpersonal and community relationships. The Wraparound plan reflects activities and interventions that draw on sources of natural support.
4. Collaboration
Team members work cooperatively and share responsibility for developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating a single Wraparound plan. The plan reflects a blending of team members’ perspectives, mandates, and resources. The plan guides and coordinates each team members’ work towards meeting the teams’ goals.
5. Community Based
The Wraparound team implements service and support strategies that take place in the most inclusive, most responsive, most accessible, and least restrictive settings possible, and that safely promote child and family integration into home and community life.
6. Culturally Competent
The Wraparound process demonstrates respect for and builds on the values, preferences, beliefs, culture and identity of the child/youth and family, and their community.
7. Individualized
To achieve the goals laid out in the Wraparound plan, the team develops and implements a customized set of strategies, support, and services.
8. Strengths Based
The Wraparound process and the Wraparound plan identity, build on, and enhance the capabilities, knowledge, skills, and assets of the child and family, their community, and other team members.
9. Unconditional
Despite challenges, the team persist in working toward the goals included in the Wraparound plan until the team reaches agreement that a formal wraparound process is no longer required.
10. Outcome based
The team ties the goals and strategies of the Wraparound plan to observable or measurable indicators of success, monitors progress in terms of these indicators, and revise the plan accordingly.
Ten Principles of the Wraparound Process by Eric Bruns and Janet Walker, 2008