Family Group Conferences (FGCs)

A family group conference (FGC) is a process which enables a family to come together to make a plan to address concerns about their child’s welfare.

Family group conferences (FGCs) work by helping families resolve concerns, keep children safely within their family network and avert children from the care system, and save money.

Family Rights Group has been at the forefront of the development and introduction of family group conferences in the United Kingdom.

FGCs originated in New Zealand and are grounded in the Māori culture. Family Rights Group introduced family group conferences to the UK in the 1990s, after inviting a group of practitioners from New Zealand to share information and their experience of practice.

FGCs are the gold standard of family group decision making approaches. They are internationally recognised and evaluated, with a set of clear principles.

Family Rights Group:

• Developed and runs the national accreditation scheme – a mark of high quality FGC practice.
• Trains family group conference coordinators.
• Supports local authorities to set up or expand their FGC service.
• Leads the national Family Group Conference and Lifelong Links Network.
• Is a key player in the European family group conference network.
• Undertakes action research and leads practice developments.

From this page you can find links to more about family group conferences, why they are important, how they work, and how Family Rights Group can help.

Family Rights Group supports local authorities to introduce or expand a family group conference service. This includes training FGC coordinators, connecting practitioners and managers, and providing specialist one to one support.

Updated August 2025