Family Group Conferences
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What is a Family Group Conference?
A Family Group Conference (FGC) operates by bringing members of a family group together to discuss a single family issue in relation to child protection. The meeting is conducted by a qualified facilitator, impartial to the child protection agency. The role of the facilitator is to make sure all participants are heard and to support the family in developing a plan that works for everyone. All who participate in a family group conference must be signatory to a final agreed plan.
What makes a Family Group Conference Effective?
Studies centred on the effectiveness of FGC have shown this style of problem-solving to have ‘high participant satisfaction, offered more placement opportunities for children to live with extended family, improved communication within families, and established more respect among families for child protection professionals’ (Department of Community Services, 2006).
Assumptions
The family group conference model is based on the following assumptions:
Families have a right to participate in decisions affecting them.
If properly prepared and engaged with, families are competent decision makers.
Decisions made within families are more likely to succeed than those imposed by outsiders.
Decision making as a family cohort can improve communication and reduce hostility amongst the family system.
Feelings of empowerment and respect are fostered by independent decision making (Huntsman, 2006).
Working with Indigenous people
FGC first emerged in New Zealand as a response to the over representation of Maori children in the child welfare system. Like Maori culture, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities hold strong value around the concepts of family, extended family, and kinship. The FGC model seeks to involve the wider family system to promote long-lasting change.
Who can be involved?
Family group conferencing brings together three different parties, all offering unique insight & strengths to the issue being discussed. They are:
Immediate family.
Extended family and other important support people in the young person’s life.
Child protection professionals who offer services that can assist with putting the plan in action.
Image sourced from Changing Futures
