Good Practice
Family group conferencing started in Hull three years ago as a joint initiative with Barnardos. There are 19 paid conveners who co-ordinate the process. The scheme uses sessional workers and volunteers. There are no criteria set for who should use the scheme because it has proved difficult to predict which families will benefit. Referrals are accepted from any source. The convener will contact the prime family member and gain permission to go and see them.
Advocates are volunteers who support individual children or vulnerable adults in the family; sometimes they will attend parts of the conference on behalf of the child.
There are three stages to the process after the professionals' meeting with the family, these are:

• The convener and professionals leave but remain on hand to answer any queries.
  
• The family remains in the meeting until they emerge with a plan.
  
• The family and the social worker review progress 6 - 12 weeks after the meeting.
  There are clear rules about child protection cases and Family Group Conferencing is not used instead of child protection procedures, but may be used in addition. The convener may continue to be engaged with the family over a 4-8 month period; families can, and do, ask for conferences to be reconvened.

Benefits

• Family Group Conferencing is a key element in developing community support for families and reducing numbers of children on the CPR.
  
• Numbers of children on the CPR have reduced from over 450 in 1997/8 to just over 200 in 2001/2.
  
• Family Group Conferencing is liked by service users who find it empowering and less intrusive than other forms of intervention.
  
• Coordinators, advocates and volunteer workers are drawn from local communities, raising levels of awareness of child care issues and community responsibility.
  
• Substantial numbers of children are looked after by kinship carers, many as a result of Family Conferences.

Contact: Jon Plant, Principal Child Care Manager