From the Director

Happy New Year from the Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice! We are so happy to have a brand-new edition of Wraparound Connections for you to start 2025.

Change does not always align as perfectly with the calendar year as the abundance of new year’s resolutions might suggest; but as we look ahead to 2025, we do have a lot of changes to highlight. 

First, we wanted to express our deepest appreciation to Ebony Chambers-McClinton, who has been the co-chair of the Parent Partner Advisory Committee (PPAC) since its inception more than a decade ago, and who will now move into a special advisor role. You can read all about how much Ebony has meant to the committee—and to the Wraparound community at large—in our open letter of gratitude featured in this issue.

We also wanted to share the exciting announcement that Tamara Trejos, with her 15 years of Wraparound and behavioral health experience from Southern California and additional years of experience as an instructor for UC Davis Human Services  (and who has been a huge piece of this publication’s production for several years now) will be formally joining the Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice’s Wraparound team in providing High-Fidelity Wraparound guidance to California’s providers and counties. Please join us in congratulating her on her new position—and be sure to read the latest installment of her popular Acronym Corner series in this issue, where she digs incredibly deep into the use of acronyms and why it’s so important that if they are used, they are used clearly and inclusively. 

Speaking of change, we’d be remiss not to acknowledge the changes occurring at the national level, which will inevitably impact us at the statewide level. We have heard so many colleagues and community partners express how they feel like they are floating in an era of uncertainty. While it’s often been said that the only certainty is uncertainty, Wraparound remains relentlessly determined to be there for children and families when they need it, and as early as they need it, so that their lives are strengthened and improved by services rather than overwhelmed by such uncertainty. In this edition’s Wraparound family success story, our contributing author observes, “The Wraparound team continued to show up for this family, even as they felt pushed aside and chastised by treatment facilities, schools and other providers.” This is what Wraparound can be, and needs to be, to keep our most vulnerable and marginalized children, families and communities safe.

For those who appreciate the goals of Wraparound but want some data to latch onto, we have great articles for you in this issue as well! Be sure to read “Wraparound Makes a Difference, and We Have the Data to Prove it.” And don’t miss Michael J. Rauso’s, “A Promise Kept,” where he reflects on how far the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services has come—all the way toward celebrating two full months with zero children in a Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP)!

As we launch into 2025, we are so grateful for your continued partnership and support. We look forward to continuing to work with you to transform practice and positively impact the lives of our children, families and communities—together.

We hope you enjoy this Winter 2025 Issue of Wraparound Connections!

Nancy Hafer, M.S., Director, Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice