This case study is part of the Reimagining Public Safety Impact Updates Resource, which highlights successful programs in cities, towns and villages across the country. View the Reimagining Public Safety Initiative to learn more about NLC’s work in creating safe, equitable communities for all. This is one of four municipalities illustrating Hospital-Based Violence Interventions, which provide trauma-informed care and support services to patients with violent injuries in order to reduce criminal involvement and rehospitalization.
San Francisco, CA (pop. 873,965): The Wraparound Project (WAP)
The Wraparound Project (WAP), founded in 2005, works with violently injured patients ages 10 through 30. The program operates out of the Department of Surgery at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. Patients recovering from violence-related injuries are initially screened by case managers; those identified as being at high risk for reinjury or incarceration are guided into the program and provided with intensive case management as well as risk-reduction resources. Case managers ensure that any service provided is culturally appropriate.
Some of the services provided include:
- Crisis response services and crisis home visits.
- Vocational training programs.
- Employment opportunities throughout the region.
- After-school programs via the San Francisco Department of Parks and Recreation.
- Mental health services for victims and families.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy through the Trauma Recovery Center.
- Educational support through school advocacy and placement and referrals to the city’s General Education Degree resources.
- Higher education through Project Rebound.
- Art workshops.
- Assistance in obtaining a driver’s license, temporary disability, and victim of crime services.
- Tattoo removal services via community partners.
According to a Giffords Law Center report, WAP saves the San Francisco General Hospital around $500,000 per year. In 2007, the program cost $109,233 and served 39 clients. Analysis found that in 2007, the total WAP program was cost-neutral after preventing a single re-injury and was cost-beneficial after preventing two reinjuries.
From 2005 through 2011, the program enrolled 254 clients, nearly 70 percent of whom had been injured by gun violence. During that period, only 4.5 percent of participants returned with a violent injury, compared to the historical rate of 16 percent re-injury.
Key performance metrics collected include:
- Clients arrested
- Clients reinjured
- Clients connected with resources
- Clients connected with employment
- Number of hours of comprehensive case management a week
View the Reimagining Public Safety Impact Update
Learn more about what different cities have done to support public safety, including qualitative and quantitative measures highlighting the impact of community responder models, group violence interventions, hospital-based violence interventions and community violence interventions.