• Prevent placement out of a home setting
• Support and maintain child in the least restrictive environment
• Transition child from a highly restrictive environment to a less restrictive setting.

• Multiple needs
• Mental illness
• Physical and mental disability
• History of severe abuse or neglect
• Lack of support persons including family and friends
• Emotional disturbances

Frequently, the children have a combination of the above issues. These children usually would not be accepted or appropriate for residential living, PMIC facilities, or other categorical services. The ethnic/cultural breakdown of children served varies from year to year.

Wraparound provides an alternative to categorical services that can actually save significant amount of state and federal dollars. Individual Child and family Wraparound teams produced plans that cost an average of $30-$45 per day per child. The alternative cost without wraparound varies between $90-$110 per day per child. It is the goal that all funding for the wraparound plan will decrease year to year until a family or child is self-sufficient and requires little or no funding. This is possible if community planning continues and alternative resources are explored.

• If individualized or specialized services/planning are needed to keep a child home or in the least restrictive environment.
• If individualized or specialized services/planning are needed to transition a child from one placement to a less restrictive placement or back home.
• If ideas for alternative services are needed.
• If funding is needed for specialized services in which no other funding stream is available

• DHS Workers
• Juvenile Court Officers
• Educators and School/AEA Staff
• Mental Health Providers
• Community Providers

Submit a completed Referral Form (gold 2-sided form) to the box located in the Decategorization Case Facilitator’s office. For a specific funding request, please include the following information: 1) How much does it cost? 2) How often is the service needed? and 3) What is the duration of this request?.

The Decategorization Case Facilitator will present all referrals to the Gateway Committee within 7 days of receipt of the referral. The Gateway Committee meets every Monday morning (except for holidays which fall on a Monday). Therefore, referrals, which are received by Friday afternoon, will be presented to the Gateway Committee the following Monday morning. The referring individual will not be required to attend the Gateway Committee. The Gateway Committee will review the referral and make the decision as to the appropriate course of action, which may include one of the following: