Family Group Conferences

Descriptions

Family Group Conferences are meetings led by an independent co-ordinator where family, friends and networks meet to plan and make decisions for a child who is at risk. They are a way of involving families in decision-making and planning about how best to keep children safe and avoid the need for processes such as legal proceedings. Family Group Conferences were introduced into the UK in the early 1990s and have long been recognised as an important way to meet the underpinning principle of the Children Act 1989 : to balance the rights of children to express their views, the rights of parents to exercise their responsibilities, and the duty of the state to intervene when the child’s welfare requires it.