Family Rights Group welcomes research released today by Foundations (formerly What Works for Children’s Social Care). The study definitively shows that family group conferences (FGCs) help families resolve concerns, keep children safely within their family network and avert children from entering the care system.
A family group conference is a family-led meeting in which the family and friends network come together to make a plan for the child. This might mean extra support for the parents to continue safely raising their child or identifying relatives or friends who can step in as the child’s kinship carer.
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.
The Randomised Control Trial study was conducted in 21 local authorities. The evaluation team led by Coram focused upon families involved in the pre-proceedings process, which is when a local authority is considering issuing care proceedings. The study compared child and parental outcomes of families referred for a family group conference with those not referred. The researchers found that family group conferences were cost effective, with children in referred families significantly less likely to go into care. Twelve months after the pre-proceedings letter, children whose families were referred for a family group conference were 8.6 percentage points less likely to go into care.
Family Rights Group is calling on the Government to invest in family group conference services across the country and make it a right for all families involved with children’s services to be offered a family group conference.