What is a Family Group Conference?

A family group conference (FGC) is a family-led decision making process in which family and friends come together to make a plan for a child.

An FGC is more than just meeting. It is a process that involves engagement and preparation with parents and the wider family and friends network. The process is supported by an independent coordinator who helps the family prepare for the family group conference. Children are usually involved in their own family group conference, often with support from an advocate. It is a voluntary process and families cannot be forced into one.

Family group conferences are the gold standard of family group decision making approaches. This is because with FGCs, families are themselves the lead decision makers when addressing concerns about their children’s welfare.

The term ‘family group decision making’ encompasses a range of approaches but FGCs are the only model which has a clear set of principles and an evidence base which shows their effectiveness. The family group conference model has been introduced in over 30 countries worldwide.

10 things to consider: family group conference: best practice.

Family group conferences help keep children out of the care system and safely in their family. Recent research into FGCs at pre-proceedings stage in England found that children who were referred for an FGC were less likely to go to court, less likely to go into the care system, and spent less time in care when they became looked after, compared to those who were not, a year later.

See How do we know FGCs work?

Family group conferences can be used whenever a situation is sufficiently serious that a plan and decision needs to be made about a child. They are now being used in the UK in all areas of child welfare including:

• Preventative services
• Safeguarding work including domestic abuse
• Court proceedings
• Looked after children and planning for leaving care
• Education (to address truancy and reduce exclusions)
• Anti-social behaviour and youth justice including restorative justice.

Some local authorities have developed services using the model to address the needs of adult service users and their families including:

• Safeguarding work with adults including elder abuse
•  Adults with learning disabilities
• Adults with mental health difficulties

Internationally they have been used for: the release of prisoners from jail (South Africa), the discharge of adults from hospital (Holland) and in addressing homelessness and debt (Holland).

The FGC process allows a family and their network to draw on their strengths and resources to make a safe plan for their children.

The graphic below sets out the five main stages of the family group conference process:

The FGC process

Family group conferences draw upon Maori culture and their development was a response to the large number of Maori children being removed into state institutions. Family group conferences are now recognised in law in New Zealand, in fact it is a requirement that before any child can be taken into state care, a referral for a family group conference must be made.

Family Rights Group introduced FGCs to the UK

The development of family group conferences in England began in the early 1990s when Family Rights Group invited a group of practitioners from New Zealand to share information and their experience of practice. Subsequently we have continued to lead the way in promoting the development of FGCs in England, Wales and Scotland, leading an FGC network, running training and consultancy services, hosting events and co-partnering international conferences on FGCs, publishing newsletters, books and a training pack to support agencies in developing FGC and promoting the FGC model through lobbying.

Family group conferences are used in approximately 30 countries worldwide including Austria, Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the USA and the UK.

Updated August 2025