Ernie's Story Ernie became the first graduate of Wraparound at Hollygrove, an EMQ FamiliesFirst agency.

At the age of two, Ernie was removed from the home of his drug addicted mother.  He went to live with his chronically ill father who was frequently in and out of the hospital and often had to leave Ernie with another family. All these changes in his environment caused Ernie to act out, destroy his toys and tear up the furniture. Ernie’s father had trouble taking care of his angry young son, and the instability took its toll on Ernie whose behavior became more and more aggressive. He was a child spinning out of control. 

Eventually Ernie was referred to Hollygrove, an EMQ FamiliesFirst agency, and at just six years old he became the first to receive Wraparound services there. His Wraparound team taught Ernie anger management skills, worked on correcting his aggressive behavior and helped him get through his weekdays at school and weekends at home. 

Around the same time, our Family Finding specialist located his father’s brother and wife. Reluctant at first, as Ernie’s father became weaker, his uncle and aunt began to get more involved in Ernie’s life. They took him to movies and had him stay for weekends and holidays.

Sadly, Ernie’s father died, but Ernie had the support of the Wraparound team to help him learn to cope with his grief and loss. His behavior improved slowly but significantly. The bond with his uncle and aunt became closer, and ultimately they chose to adopt Ernie. The adoption was finalized the same day that Ernie became the first graduate from our Wraparound program.

At the graduation ceremony, Ernie’s uncle and aunt expressed passionate gratitude to everyone for the services they had received and the difference that Wraparound had made in their lives. Ernie, now eight years old, spoke of his own deep gratitude and love for all of the staff and for his new family. Ernie was once a child spinning out of control and now has a loving home and hope for a bright future.

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Confidentiality of EMQ FamiliesFirst children and families has been preserved
through the use of models. Some stories may be composites of multiple cases.