Schoolcraft County Extension
300 Walnut St. Rm. 218
Manistique, MI 49854-1485 / P: 906-341-3688
F: 906-341-6030 / E-mail:
Web: msue.msu.edu/Schoolcraft
September 2005
Wraparound program works in Schoolcraft County
MSU Extension is utilizing the Wraparound Program to work with the Schoolcraft County Probate Court, the Department of Human Services and the Local Community Team to reduce the length of an out of, or prevention of out of home placements.
Wraparound is all about partnering with families as they experience hard times. It is based on the premise that certain behaviors are a result of unfulfilled needs and the focus is on strengths rather than deficits.Wraparound is an approach to planning for families who are ready to look for new ways to help themselves. It is home and community based and concentrates on setting goals.
Wraparound provides practical and material assistance when necessary and aids families as they draw on resources and link with services.
To determine whether the support offered to families in crisis significantly and positively influences outcomes, families are asked evaluations questions
· Did participating in Wrap enable your family to help your child learn? Develop?
· How did your family unit grow? Change?
· Did the intervention enhance the family’s ability to work with professionals and advocate for services?
· Did the intervention assist the family in building a stronger support system?
· Did the intervention provide an optimistic view of the future? / It’s important to learn about the impact that Wraparound has had on their lives so that successes can be celebrated and adjustments can be made. This is necessary for the families to progress toward the desired outcomes they have identified.
Why does Wraparound work?
· Families work together in relationships based on equality and respect
· Families enhance their capacities to support the growth and development of all members
· Families become resources to their own members, to other families and to communities
· Practices affirm and strengthen families’ cultural and ethnic identities, enhancing their ability to function in a multicultural society
· Wraparound is embedded in the community, contributing to the community-building process
· Formal and informal supports are mobilized to enable family development
· Wraparound is flexible and continually responsive to family and community issues.
Wraparound places families in planning, design and delivery of services rather than expecting them to fit into a predetermined set of service options. It values, respects and empowers.
Wraparound acknowledges the hard work that families undertake and recognizes both struggles and achievements. It helps them obtain the knowledge and resources they need.
All of the families participating report improve functioning as a result of their Wraparound involvement.
/ Michigan State University Extension helps people improve their lives through an educational process that applies knowledge to critical issues, needs and opportunities. Offices in counties across the state link the research of the land-grant university, MSU, to challenges facingcommunities. Citizens serving on county Extension councils regularly help select focus areas for programming. MSU Extension is funded jointly by county boards of commissioners,the state through Michigan State University and federally through the US Department of Agriculture. /
MSU Extension helps U.P. become FIREWISE
MSU Extension has received a grant from the U.S. Forest Service to promote FireWise Community Principles in wildfire-prone communities.The FireWise Communities program is intended to create a future where wild fires occur without the loss of lives, homes and structures
A workshop was held at the Hiawatha Sportsman’s Club in Engadine, MI in August. The club owns 35,000 acres of timberland interspersed with recreational properties and homes.
This is the type of environment the FireWise Communities initiative is targeting for educational efforts aimed at reducing the exposure from a wildfire.
As a result of the workshop, several members of the club have taken it upon themselves to initiate the formation of a FireWise Committee for the Hiawatha Sportsman’s Club. They plan to approach the club’s board and ask it to consider working toward FireWise Community certification.
The eastern Upper Peninsula is being serviced from Schoolcraft County with an educational grant from the statewide FireWise grant.
MSU Extension’s Summer Exploration Camp in Schoolcraft County
Many Schoolcraft County youngsters do not have access to summer enrichment activities. They may spend time in daycare, or on their own, and their parents may not have resources that allow them to attend private camp programs.
To meet this need, MSUE staff members, with the help of local 4-H youth and adult volunteers conducted four weeks of day camp at the Schoolcraft County fairgrounds. Youths from ages five through 12 participated in a one- or two-week camp
Each camp session included a “Bicycle Rodeo Safety Program”. Activities focused on riding etiquette, safety procedures and an obstacle course that the youngsters could use to practice the techniques they learned. Each camp session ended with a bike ride. / Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital donated funds for purchase of bicycle helmets for all participants And Manistique Charities donated bicycle safety flags.
The nine- to 12-year-olds also participated in a field trip to The Hot Plate ceramic shop in Marquette. Each youth created a ceramic tile piece that was then entered in the local fair.
The older youths also traveled to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Pocket Park in Escanaba and to Clear Lake Education Center in Northern Schoolcraft County, where they learned the basics of using a compass. That knowledge was tested with a scavenger hunt using compass bearings.
All the young people heard presentations from speakers who presented a wide range of topics. The speakers represented the Seney National Wildlife Refuge, Michigan State Police Manistique Post and Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital Rehabilitation -Physical Therapy Services.
A Native American speaker introduced the campers to her culture and traditions and a MSU Extension forestry specialist talked about the importance of wisely managing the upper peninsula’s vast forest resources.
The 4-Ever Horses 4H club and the 4-H Northern Dog sports club also offered presentations with their animals, which gave members of those groups the chance to improve their public speaking and organizational skills.
4-Hers go green at Exploration Days
During the third week of June 10 Schoolcraft County youths and adult chaperones made the trip to the MSU campus in East Lansing, Mich. to attend 2005 4-H Exploration Days.
None of the participants had previously attended Exploration Days. Youths participated in classes that gave them the chance to learn about such topics as clothing design, llamas, horse conformation, stained glass, careers, draft horses, dog obedience and understanding the challenges faced by handicapped people.
The experience also included a tour of the campus, a dance, a magic show and a planetarium show.
Exploration Days not only gives the young people the chance to see parts of Michigan they may never have visited before, they also get a first-hand look at life on a university campus.
MSU is an affirmative-action, equal opportunity institution, Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, or family status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Thomas G. Coon, Extension Director, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI 48824