New York State High Fidelity Wraparound Referral Process

ARCHIVED February 2025

  • Document also available in Portable Document Format (PDF)
A youth can be identified and referred to High Fidelity Wraparound (HFW) in three ways:
  1. Children's Single Point of Access (C-SPOA) referral: The purpose of the SPOA is to manage access to high-intensity mental health services, provide a forum for improved collaboration among community service providers, and identify and promote community-based alternatives to residential treatment and psychiatric hospitalization. Once a referral is made to SPOA, the goal is to ensure that individuals are matched to the appropriate level of service based on need.

    The county C-SPOA that has certified High Fidelity Wraparound (HFW) care managers has the responsibility of determining if a youth is eligible for HFW, including:
    • Educating the youth and family about HFW to support them in making an informed decision to participate.
    • Determining the youth meets the Health Home Serving Children criteria under the single qualifying condition of Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED).
    • Determining the youth has a CANS-NY score of high acuity, determined by the completion of the CANS-NY.
    • Determining the youth meets the remaining criteria for HFW within Health Home.
  2. Care Management Agency (CMA) referral: A youth currently enrolled within a CMA may be identified as meeting the eligibility requirements for High Fidelity Wraparound. An HFW-certified care manager or supervisor should meet with the youth and family to discuss HFW and provide them with information about the process. The CMA should follow their internal referral guidelines if the youth and family decide to participate in HFW as the practice model in care management. The CMA should provide continuous updates to the C-SPOA informing them of which youth and families are receiving HFW within their county.

OR

  1. Health Home Serving Children (HHSC) designated lead agency referral: A youth newly referred or enrolled in HHSC may be assigned to a designated CMA by the lead HHSC when s/he is in need of more intensive care management.