Canyon Acres Children and Family Successes…

Elliena's Story

When Canyon Acres Wrap Around Team first began working with Elliena’s family, Elliena was verbally and physically aggressive and defiant. In her first year of high school, Elliena had been suspended five times and, by age16, Elliena was failing in school.

It was the school therapist that realized Elliena’s family did not have the coping skills to manage Elliena and her younger sisters’ behavioral issues or to provide them with the help they needed. The therapist referred the family to Canyon Acres Wrap Around Program for help.

The Wrap Around Team saw that the family was struggling. Elliena, in particular, was depressed and would often resort to self destructive behavior to get attention. Elliena’s mother was very emotional and portrayed only negative attention to her daughters. The family was in chaos.

The Team, consisting of a parent partner, youth partner, school therapist, and a compassionate family friend, began working with both parents. The goal was to help the parents develop family structure, guidelines, and a better support system. Consequences for bad behavior and follow through were new concepts to the family and healthier communication patterns were established.

Ten months later, with the help of the Wrap Around Team, Elliena is no longer acting out in a self-destructive manner. She has developed positive relationships with her family and friends at school. She has been getting higher A and B grades in class, and has not been physically aggressive in over a year.

Elliena’s mother has started to open up to friends and neighbors for support while building stronger parenting skills. She has also allowed Elliena more freedom to develop friendships of her own. The mother has learned not to be afraid to ask for help when she gets overwhelmed.

The Wrap Around Team helped Elliena and her parents overcome many very significant obstacles and family challenges. The family now has an atmosphere where Elliena and her siblings can learn and grow into productive adults and in fact, this summer Elliena will be going on an actual “family vacation” with her family for the first time in years.

Names have been changed to protect confidentiality.