Family Group Conference - Family Group Conferences Worldwide

Family Group Conferences Worldwide

FGCs are used in many countries. In the United States, they are known as Family Guided Decision Making. In the Netherlands and Flanders, they are known as Eigen Kracht Conferenties (Own Power Conferences).

Ireland introduced the process into legislation in 2000 under the Children's and Families Act. Every HSE now provides this service. Northern Ireland also has a country wide service although it is not legislated for it is required under Government Department guidelines.

The 1989 Children Act (England & Wales) like the New Zealand Children, Young Persons and their Families Act 1989 has some similar principles which underpin and inform the development of how Social Workers interact and work with children and families. The UK programme like its counterpart focused on these principles:

• Safeguarding children and promoting their welfare; • Parental responsibility; • Partnership; • Family support; • Contact between the child and the family; • Reuniting children with their families; • Respect for race, culture, language and religion. The Act sought to minimise, where possible, the use of legal proceedings in family life and attempt to, “strike a balance between the rights of children to express their views on decisions made about their lives, the rights of parents to exercise their responsibilities towards the child and the duty of the state to intervene where the child’s welfare requires it”, The Children Act 1989(2).

The challenge for Social Services was how to achieve a safe balance of partnership and parental responsibility whilst protecting the child from possible or further risk. Services were developed to support the child within the home environment, Family Support Workers, HomeStart, Family Centres, etc. In most cases the family are neither consulted or had requested these services with the result that there is little change in the family circumstances and in some instances a greater dependency is created.

Family Group Conference was debated in the early 1990’s as an alternative and progressive way to work with families. The successful outcomes in other countries demonstrated that this radical approach had potential. Initially eight local authorities and voluntary groups piloted the scheme with Hampshire, Essex and Wiltshire taking the lead. Careful study of the model was made and then adapted to fit with the culture and legislation.

In 2007 Germany has introduced Family Group Conferences for juveniles in Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein, called Gemeinschaftskonferenzen (GMK). These GMKs are organized by the Verein für Jugendhilfe Pinneberg e.V., and the Crime Prevention Council of Elmshorn. The conferences are being evaluated by Prof. Otmar Hagemann from the University of Applied Sciences, Kiel. A progress report can be downloaded in German language at: http://www.fh-kiel.de/index.php?id=4675