How to contact us for advice

Find out more

Telephone Handler
Close form

Our advice service

Are you a parent, kinship carer relative or friend of a child who is involved with, or who needs the help of, children’s services in England? We can help you understand processes and options when social workers or courts are making decisions about your child’s welfare.

Our advice service is free, independent and confidential.

Telephone Handler

By phone or email

To speak to an adviser, please call our free and confidential advice line 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 3pm, excluding Bank Holidays). Or you can ask us a question via email using our advice enquiry form.

Call us Email us

Discuss on our forums

Our online advice forums are an anonymous space where parents and kinship carers (also known as family and friends carers) can get legal and practical advice, build a support network and learn from other people’s experiences.

Parents Kinship Carers

Advice on our website

Our get help and advice section has template letters, advice sheets and resources about legal and social care processes. On Monday and Thursday afternoons, you can use our webchat service to chat online to an adviser.

 

Web pages Webchat
Exit
Family Rights Group

Menu

Cover Your Tracks
Call us for advice

Family Group Conference Coordinator – Hertfordshire County Council

6 minute read

Job title: FGC Coordinator
Salary: £39,481 progressing to £43,149 per annum
Location: Hertfordshire

2x covering East /North Herts
2x covering South / West Herts

Hours: Full time and part time available (min 22.5 hours per week)
Contract: Permanent
Directorate: Childrens Services

About the team

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 mandates Local Authorities to offer family group decision-making meetings before applying to take a child into care, promoting family involvement in care decisions.  In Hertfordshire our family group decision making offer includes the option of a Family Network Meeting and / or a Family Group Conference (FGC).

Hertfordshire has a well-established and accredited Family Group Conference (FGC) Service. We believe that all families open to Hertfordshire Children’s Services should be supported to come together, talk through concerns and find solutions from within their own networks at the earliest opportunity and that FGCs offer this possibility.

To enhance Hertfordshire’s Family Group Decision Making offer and support practitioners within the Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams, we are recruiting FGC Coordinators to join our experienced, innovative and friendly team, where reflective, relationship-based and systemic practice is supported and encouraged.

About the role

As an FGC coordinator, you will be coordinating and facilitating Family Group Conferences which will involve direct work with children and families.

As an FGC coordinator, you will be working alongside the Multi Agency Child Protection Teams, to ensure every family has been offered the opportunity to have an FGC. You will be an integral part of the team, promoting the benefits of bringing families together to create a plan of support for their children. This will involve offering referral discussions with practitioners and visiting families to empower them to see the benefits of having an FGC.

This role offers the opportunity to primarily work with families who are being supported under a Child Protection Plan or have entered the PLO Process / Court Proceedings.

As a coordinator you will need to be self-motivated, dynamic and organised, with an experience and passion to help empower children and families to come together and create a family plan, to support positive change.

About you

Essential:

  • Experience of working in child social care or a similar setting,
  • Experience of and commitment to delivering high-quality work for families, children, and young people.
  • Direct experience of children and young people’s participation.
  • An understanding and ability to manage groups and meetings.
  • Ability to understand and manage complex family dynamics and needs of CYP.
  • To be able to demonstrate a commitment to the Family Group Conference model of practice, and a knowledge and commitment to a solution focused approach.
  • Ability to be flexible in your working hours, evenings and weekends may be required to meet the needs of this role.
  • This is an essential car user post. You will be required to provide a car for use in connection with the duties of this post and must be insured for business use.
  • Excellent communication skills with the confidence to engage with different partner agencies.
  • Proficient use of IT packages such as Microsoft office, excel, word, MS teams, email.
  • A commitment to anti-discriminatory practices in employment and service provision.
  • Driving licence and access to a vehicle for work purposes.

Desirable: 

  • A knowledge of Family Group Conferencing would be helpful and if trained, this would be advantageous.
  • A knowledge of child protection procedures and the Care Proceedings process.
  • A social work qualification or professional equivalent qualification. You must be registered with SW England if you are Social Worker.
  • Experience of mediation, advocacy, and participation

This role requires you to be a team player, who embraces creative approaches to working with children and families. It will be important to have a positive attitude to overcome challenges and take a strengths-based approach to the role.

If you do not currently hold a Family Group Conference qualification, we will offer relevant training opportunities.

For an informal conversation about the role, please contact either [email protected] or [email protected]

Interview date: 2nd and 3rd November (in person) 

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is Level 10. Please locate the job profile here:

Job profiles – Health and social care

Benefits of working for us

How to apply 

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Additional information 

We are changing
Hertfordshire County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), creating a unique opportunity to help shape the future of local services. To find out more, visit https://www.hertfordshire-lgr.co.uk/

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Safeguarding 
This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Driving required
You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.

Apply for this job

People pie chart

Our funding means we can currently only help 4 in 10 people

Your donation will help more families access expert legal advice and support from Family Rights Group.

Donate Now