Hernan's Story Hernan credits Wraparound with his success as he enters college.

The odds were against Hernan Quintero from the beginning. The middle child of an older brother and two younger sisters, he was the one who struggled in school and didn’t quite fit in anywhere. He became a target for bullying and taunting at school. And sadly, at home his siblings, and even his mother, singled him out as the odd child, the one who wasn’t good enough or smart enough.  

Without the support and encouragement he needed, he was headed for trouble. He grew resentful, had zero self esteem and his anger was growing. Poor communication at home just got worse. As Hernan grew, so did the fights at home with his mom and siblings. There was no respect and the atmosphere was filled with negativity. 

His behavior carried over into school and became a serious problem. He was eventually barred from attending public school and was assigned to a continuation high school – an alternative high school for students who are considered at risk of not graduating at the normal pace.

The conflicts at home escalated, verbal aggression abounded and Herman would go into rages, destroying things and posing a potential danger to other family members and their property. To deal with the rages, his mother called a crisis hotline and had Hernan confined to a locked facility. Eventually, at the age of 15, he was placed in a group home.

Once there, Hernan became depressed. He lost weight, wouldn’t eat and was throwing up from the stress, and just wanted to return home. Hernan had two main goals: move back home with his family and be allowed back in a public high school. He, and his family, had a lot of work to do to make that happen. 

To help with the transition back to his home, Hernan was referred to the Wraparound (UPLIFT) program of EMQ FamiliesFirst by the Behavioral Health Department of San Bernardino County. The Wraparound program literally wraps a protective blanket of services and support around a child allowing him to stay safe at home, in school and out of trouble.  At EMQ FamiliesFirst he now had a team of psychologists, social workers and his family specialist, Brian Martinez, on his side.

The team got to work. They met weekly with the family, and the family specialist made rehab visits two to three times a week in the home. They visited Hernan at school twice a week and helped him work on his social skills, focus on his schoolwork and improve his interaction with his teachers. “As more meetings went by, I met more people that I felt cared about me and my ups and downs,” said Hernan. “I enjoyed going places with Brian, getting Double Stuff Oreos or whatever cookies went good with milk, and going to boys group.” 

The team worked with his mother as well, teaching her communication and coping skills and giving her the tools she needed to create a more nurturing environment at home. She worked on understanding emotions and how to build her relationship with her son.

Hernan was able to come back home, but things were still rocky at times. 

The work continued for nearly a year before significant improvement was seen. Brian said, “Hernan really liked incentives – simple things like cookies and milk after a week of good behavior. But eventually, he learned that the behavior itself was the reward.” Home life started to get better.

At about the same time, Hernan accomplished his second goal and was accepted back to Arroyo Valley High School.

“When we see goals being met, improvements documented, and the EMQ FamiliesFirst team and family agree, we consider that a ‘graduation’ from Wraparound,” Brian said. “The nearly two years of hard work on everyone’s part paid off.”  Hernan recently returned to EMQ Families First – he wanted to speak at the agency’s Christmas party and talk to the children who are in Wraparound now about his journey and how EMQ Families First helped turn his life around.

Hernan has now graduated from high school and currently is studying at ITT Technical Institute. He’s well on his way to a successful, productive life.

» Next Success Story

» How Can I Help?

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