FAST Forward (New Hampshire Wraparound)

What can I expect if I am enrolled in FAST Forward? 

There are 4 major parts to the FAST Forward program:

1. Hello activities allow your family to connect with your Wraparound coordinator and talk about your family’s story, how you got to where you are now, identify your strengths, and think about what is happening under the surface. During this process, your family and child also create your vision for a better future.

2. The Help part of the process is when your family and coordinator develop a team. You identify people in a good position to help your family meet its needs and achieve your vision. Your family, coordinator, and team will also create a Plan of Care (POC). The Plan of Care is important because it puts everything in writing and guides the work. There will be a couple of meetings with your team members to develop your Plan of Care.

3. During the Healing part of the process, your family and your team meet regularly to talk about how it’s going, using the Plan of Care as a guide. The meetings are also designed to ensure you get the help you need. You and your team will look at data every meeting, talk about what is working and what is not, and make changes as needed.

4. The Hope part of the process is when your family meets its goals. Your care coordinator will work with you to plan for leaving Wraparound and the kinds of supports you will access to make sure you and your child continue to succeed. Your Wraparound coordinator will also ask you a few questions after every team meeting to understand how you and your child or youth felt about the meeting and determine if the process meets your needs. Wraparound is not case management. The care coordinator might connect you to services, but those decisions are made in team meetings, and team members pitch in to help make those connections. Wraparound is not mental health treatment either. Treatment providers may be on your team to link your child’s treatment to the Plan of Care goals.

Your care coordinator will also work with you and your youth to develop a Safety Plan as part of the Plan of Care. This is an essential part of the process. The Safety Plan helps your family identify behavior problems, or concerning issues and steps you can take to avoid crisis calls or the need for out-of-home care. FAST Forward can also provide flexible funding to meet needs that are not funded by other programs or services. Finally, FAST Forward can help you access short-term in-home support if you need it to help your family meet its vision.

The Plan of Care has several parts and is an important document that helps you and your team members to stay focused on your family's vision and goals. One of the sections outlines the strategies and benchmarks.

This section outlines specific steps to be taken; who will do it, when they will do it, where it will be done, and what success looks like for each strategy. The goal is to ensure that the team makes good decisions and stays on track. You and your team members will have copies of the Plan of Care. Family and Youth Peer Supporters set up meetings with you based on your schedule and needs. Peer Supporters can also attend to your team members and provide valuable guidance during the wraparound process.

Team meetings are designed to get everyone on the same page to support your family. The views of every team member are important, and sometimes there needs to be a compromise if the process is to work. The Wraparound coordinator is trained to make sure that everyone is heard and stays focused on the goals. The coordinator also helps the team look for creative solutions. 

Your family and youth lead the Wraparound as much as possible. You will also work hard to achieve your goals and change some things that haven’t worked for you. Change is hard work, but all the hard work is worth it!

Family and Youth Peers

Every family in FAST Forward is offered Family Peer Support from a trained person who works for NAMI-NH. Family Peer Supporters have raised a child with mental health challenges, so they have been through many of the same things you are going through. The Family Peer Supporter can connect you to other services, advocate for your family’s needs, and is a valuable member of the Youth and Family Team.

Youth in FAST Forward, ages 12 and older, can receive Youth Peer Support from a trained staff member at Youth MOVE NH. Youth Peer Supporters have experienced mental health challenges themselves, and they are highly trained to help, including making sure their needs and strengths are heard during team meetings, helping them with their goals at home, in school, and in the community, and otherwise being a source of emotional support and hope.