Karl Dennis, who was an early pioneer and longtime champion of the wraparound approach to serving youth with high mental health needs, died in late June at the age of 88.
Dennis was hired to be the first executive director of Kaleidoscope, a Chicago organization established in 1973 to serve troubled kids. There he would begin to develop an approach built around unconditional care — meaning no rejections or ejections for bad behavior — and youth- and family-driven treatment. He was not alone in fomenting what would come to be known as wraparound, which is really an approach to treating, not a model of treatment.
After leading direct service work at Kaleidoscope for 27 years, Dennis spoke and taught about the model across the country and abroad. He wrote Everything is Normal Until Proven Otherwise: A Book About Wraparound, with his friend and colleague Ira Lourie, in 2006.
From a tribute by Lourie on the National Wraparound Initiative’s website:
We all loved Karl, and he loved us all back. Karl taught us humility and tolerance, inclusion and support, and Karl taught us to look for the best parts in everyone. He taught us to be better people as we tried to emulate his ideals. Knowing Karl made me a better person, and I think that is probably true for all of us who knew him, interacted with him, and loved him.
Today, Wraparound is listed as a promising practice by both the federal Prevention Services Clearinghouse and the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse.