Wraparound Program for Youth in the Care of the Juvenile Probation Service

Wraparound, an intensive intervention program for high-risk adolescent offenders, serves as an alternative for out-of-home placement and is aimed at supporting the adolescents and reducing the risk they pose to themselves and others, while remaining with their families in the community. This is achieved by “wrapping” them with a range of professional and non-professional support within their natural environment. An individual intervention program is drawn up for each participant according to his or her needs.

The program is based on the Wraparound model developed in the USA in the 1980s. Since 2011, the program has been implemented in Israel by the Juvenile Probation Service (JPS) for the adolescents in its care in five municipalities. The evaluation of implementation of the program was commissioned by the Research, Planning and Training Division and conducted in cooperation with the Juvenile Probation Service of the Division for Adolescents, Young Adults and Correctional Services at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Services (MOSAS).

The goal of the study was to examine implementation of Wraparound and its contribution to the participants, as a basis on which to improve the program for further dissemination. The study included questionnaires for professionals working in the program; in-depth interviews with administrative staff at the local and national levels; and interviews with adolescents and their parents. The findings demonstrated that the program created a unique collaborative intervention framework in the community that pooled resources and worked with the adolescents and their families. Most of the participants achieved improved functioning or integration into a normative occupation and in many cases there was a change in the family climate. The great majority of the participants, including those who had been candidates for out-of-home placements, remained in the community. However, some of the participants continued to engage in illegal activity throughout their participation in the program, and that many of the interventions were not concluded as planned.

Based on the findings, the report proposes programmatic directions to help improve and expand the program, among them:

  • To examine in greater depth the problem of recidivism and how to address it
  • To give greater attention to structuring the process of ending the intervention
  • To implement the principles and practices of the program for additional populations
  • To further evaluate the program’s contribution in the long-term to both the adolescents and their families.

The findings have been discussed by the study steering committee and will serve MOSAS in the further development and dissemination of the program.

Citing suggestion: Kahan-Strawczynski, P., Sher, N., & Levi, D. (2014). Wraparound Program for Youth in the Care of the Juvenile Probation Service. RR-666-14. Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute. (Hebrew)