That was the reality Sandra was facing. Families weren’t learning the skills they needed to thrive independently. They were becoming dependent on the very system that was supposed to help them succeed.
At first, leadership tried to fix it the usual way: new trainings, better documentation, tweaking the process. None of it stuck. Staff remained frustrated. Families cycled in and out. Progress was fleeting.
In 2021, Sandra’s region made a bold move. They launched a network-wide Motivational Interviewing (MI) initiative, hoping to spark meaningful change. Staff completed intensive four-day training, submitted recorded sessions for evaluation, and some, like Sandra, stepped up to become MI champions.
But the resistance didn’t go away: “We’re not counselors.” and “Why do we need to do this?”
Sandra kept hearing the same pushback. Staff were confused. They struggled to connect MI to their daily work with families. Something still wasn’t clicking. So Sandra did what great leaders do: she went looking for a better way.
That’s when someone said five words that would change everything: “That’s already been done.”
Sandra discovered MiiWrap, an integration of Motivational Interviewing and Wraparound that wasn’t just a technique, but a full framework designed to build lasting self-sufficiency in families with complex needs.
She brought the idea to leadership. They listened. They moved forward. And everything began to shift.
In traditional services, it’s easy, even natural, to fall into the trap of doing for families instead of building with them. Services get wrapped around families like a safety net. But when the net is removed, many fall right back in. MiiWrap flips that dynamic.
During the MiiWrap LMS training, Sandra saw it clearly for the first time: This wasn’t about services. It was about skills. Families weren’t meant to be held up by the system indefinitely. They were meant to grow stronger, more capable, and more independent because of it.
For Sandra, it wasn’t just a professional shift, it was personal. “I’ve been a fixer my whole life,” she said. “MiiWrap changed my need to fix.”
She no longer approached families, or even overwhelmed professional partners, with the urge to solve their problems. Instead, she led with empathy, empowerment, and collaboration. And the impact was immediate.
One professional, exhausted by high caseloads and looming burnout, opened up to Sandra after a conversation built on MiiWrap principles. That night, the professional texted: “You have no idea what our conversation meant to me.”
When Sandra realized her teaching still carried the old patterns, more telling than partnering, she stopped and reimagined everything.
She and a colleague rebuilt their community of practice using MiiWrap principles from the ground up.
Early results are undeniable:
And Sandra knows they’re just getting started. “This will all change as we do MiiWrap,” she told her supervisor.
Families deserve more than short-term support. They deserve transformation and MiiWrap makes it possible.
If your organization is tired of seeing families stuck in services without sustainable change, it’s time to explore what MiiWrap can do. Click the button to learn how you can get started with MiiWrap at your organization.
Most agencies put a lot of faith in training. And it makes sense: training is structured, efficient, and feels like progress. But here’s the problem:...
You’re not imagining it: most professional development doesn’t work. You pull your team into a training. You hope they’ll walk away energized, more skilled, more...
You’re proud of the work your agency does. Your team shows up every day to serve families navigating incredibly complex challenges. But if you’re honest,...
Lamar had been doing this work for 20 years. Twenty years of showing up for families. Twenty years of building trust, crafting service plans, solving...
For years, a big part of the job at VVDB was flying out to local sites to lead 4-day workshops. We taught the foundational elements...
When your team starts losing their spark, it’s not just a morale issue. It’s a mission-critical one. That was the reality one agency faced when...
