I’ll go ahead and admit it. Wraparound is my favorite program of FCNI’s. I just love it. I love that it is truly a collaborative effort that involves a lot of different agencies--the Department of Social Services, FCNI, Behavioral Health, schools, probation, as well as individuals who are hand-selected by families to be part of their support team.
Ted found himself at rock bottom--again. As an unrecovered alcoholic, Ted was again living out the devastating consequences of instability and poor choices. He had lost his job, his girlfriend had moved out with their two children, and he was evicted from his apartment. The final blow came when Ted was arrested for his second DUI and ended up sentenced to six months in jail. With nowhere to go but up, Ted committed himself to his sobriety while serving his time. But when he was released, Ted realized that while sober, he had nothing to return to--no family, no home, and no purpose.
For the first time in a long time, Cooper was afraid. A lifelong struggle with drug addiction had finally resulted in his 8 year-old daughter, Traci, being removed from his care and placed into a foster home for her safety. He knew he needed treatment or he'd risk losing his daughter forever, or even his own life. Recognizing that he’d hit rock bottom, Cooper committed himself fully to getting and staying clean. He had finally accepted the harsh reality that he’d only get to watch his daughter grow up and be a part of her life if he were sober and safe.
David really wanted to be a good father, and provide for his family in all the ways his own father had not. Unfortunately, having experienced trauma growing up, David had mental health issues he didn’t know how to deal with and he turned to alcohol as a means to cope. When his two children, Molly and Manny, were very young, David’s struggles with alcoholism affected his ability to provide them a stable home and impacted his relationship with their mother, Ana, in very unhealthy ways. On all fronts, David and his family were in crisis.
My name is Marycruz Jimenez, and I am currently a Social Worker in FCNI’s Wraparound program. Prior to becoming a Social Worker, I was an FCNI Rehabilitation Specialist for three years. I came into that position soon after I graduated from Cal Poly in 2015 with a degree in Sociology, with a concentration on Social Work. I became really familiar with the Social Work field in my undergraduate years, always knowing that this was where I wanted to focus my learning and experience.
I’m Jonathan, a Lead Rehabilitation Specialist with the Family Care Network and a Wraparound Program Coordinator. In my job, I have the privilege of working with amazing youth and families every day. Every one of them has a story of challenges and courage. But there was one family in particular who really stood out to me as having outstanding resilience and experienced incredible growth. The foster family I am speaking about was served in our Wraparound program.
Why are our success rates and our quarterly progress indicator numbers so high at the Family Care Network, you might ask? And what does “success” really look like with the families we serve? Confusion and skepticism about our reports is expected, until you experience a program like Wraparound (Familia de Novo) in your own family like I did, and then go on to support our families in the same program as a Parent Partner.
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