What is the family group conferencing model?
Family Group Conferences are a meeting of the extended family network and friends together with those working professionally and directly with the family. They are essentially decision making or planning meetings which take place in order to address a particular concern.
What are the benefits of family group conferencing?
Benefits of Family Group Conferences
- Unites and strengthens families.
- Keeps children with the family.
- Reduces trauma to children.
- Acknowledges the family’s ability to identify their own need.
- Incorporates the family’s culture into the plan.
- Increases involvement of the community and service providers with OCS / FINS.
What is family group conferencing restorative justice?
Family group conferencing involves the community of people most affected by the crime — the victim and the offender; and the family, friends, and key supporters of both — in deciding the resolution of a criminal incident.
What is a family group conference NZ?
The Care and Protection family group conference (FGC) is a formal meeting where the whānau or family comes together with professionals to talk about the concerns we have for a child or young person, and come up with a plan.
What happens at a family conference?
A Family Group Conference (FGC) is a structured decision making and planning process whereby the wider family network makes decisions and plans for children and young people who have been identified by the family or by service providers as being in need of a plan that will safeguard and promote their welfare.
Do family group conferences work?
Abstract. Family group conferencing (FGC) is considered to be a promising method for empowerment and community building of people in need of care and their families. However, empirical studies on the effects of FGC show mixed results, and often fail to explain these.
What’s the purpose of family group?
Family group conferences bring a family together with their relatives, friends, and other supportive people in their lives to develop a plan to support the parent in recovery and ensure the safety and well-being of the children involved.
Is family group conferencing effective?
Overall, the findings suggest that the FGC process contributed to improvements in the family situation and increased safety for children and other family members.
What type of offender is usually a part of a family group conference?
The family group conference method is usually used for habitual violent offenders. The restorative justice model holds that __________ should be applied to prevent and control crime.
What are the five types of restorative justice programs?
Some of the most common programs typically associated with restorative justice are mediation and conflict-resolution programs, family group conferences, victim-impact panels, victim–offender mediation, circle sentencing, and community reparative boards.
What can I expect at a Family Group Conference?
At a Family Group Conference, members of the child’s family or whānau meet with social workers and other people to talk about and plan what needs to happen to make sure the child is safe and well cared for. The conference will make some recommendations about what should happen and work out a plan for the child.
Are family group conferences mandatory?
FGC is a voluntary process and a referral should be made on agreement with the parent/carer of the child/young person who has Parental Responsibility, (PR).
What is typically the first step in a Family Group Conference meeting?
Steps in the Family Group Conference (FGC) Process 1. Facilitators first meet with the core family for a pre-meeting. The goal of this meeting to begin to build the family’s trust, explain the FGC progress, prepare the family to talk about the issues and come up with an action plan, and plan the logistics of the FGC.
How long can a child stay on a child protection plan?
two years
Usually a child will require a child protection plan for no longer than two years. By that stage the work undertaken with the family usually means that the child is no longer at risk. In a small number of cases where there is no improvement, it may be necessary for the court to become involved.
Do I have to attend a Family Group Conference?
Does the Family Court have to go along with what a Family Group Conference decides? In serious cases Oranga Tamariki can make an urgent application to the Family Court without first going through the Family Group Conference process, but a conference will then still have to be held before the judge can decide the case.
What is the role of a Family Group Conference coordinator?
During the Family Group Conference, the coordinator will: make sure the meeting is safe by setting clear ground rules. ensure the child or young person is comfortable and their voice is ‘heard’ and is contained in the plan. intervene and refocus the meeting where necessary.
What is typically the first step in a family group conference meeting?
What are examples of family groups?
Family is defined as a specific group of people that may be made up of partners, children, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. An example of a family is a set of parents living with their children.
Do I have to attend a family group conference?
What does FGC mean in social work?
A Family Group Conference (FGC), is a mediated formal meeting between family members and other officials such as social workers and police in regards to the care and protection or criminal offending of a child or adolescent.
How is the family group conference supported?
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.
What is the Essex family group Conference project?
The 1996 Essex Family Group Conference Project, a one year child welfare conferencing pilot program for children who were in state care, was so successful that “it is now mainstream policy,” said Hennessy, adding, “The FGC process is embedded in Children’s Services Practice and Policy across the county of Essex.
Are Family Group Conferences legal in New Zealand?
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.
Who is the chief executive of family rights group?
Robert Tapsfield is chief executive of Family Rights Group (FRG), a registered charity established in the UK in 1974 to provide advice and support for families whose children are involved with social services. FRG was instrumental in developing FGC in England and Wales.