Family Group Decision Making

Berzin, S. C. (2006). Using sibling data to understand the impact of family group decision-making on child welfare outcomes. Children and Youth Services Review, 28, 1449-1458.

This article examines the impact of family group decision making on child welfare outcomes. Using California's Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration Project Evaluation in Fresno and Riverside Counties, this research used an experimental design, with children randomly assigned to either family group decision making or traditional child welfare services. The researchers used sibling data to bolster the sample size. The outcomes analyzed included child maltreatment, placement stability and permanence, collected from administrative data. The research found no significant difference between the outcomes measured for the treatment (N = 209) and control groups (N = 119).

Keywords: quantitative, experimental design, child welfare, outcomes, siblings, california, united states, placement stability, permanence, child maltreatment, random assignment

Brady, B. (2006, October). Facilitating family decision making: A study of the family welfare conference service in the HSE Western Area. Galway, Ireland: National University of Ireland, Department of Political Science and Health Service Executive, Child & Family Research and Policy Unit. Retrieved December 2, 2008, from http://www.childandfamilyresearch.ie/documents/fwc_final_report.pdf

This document is a compendium of three reports completed as part of an overall study of the Family Welfare Conference Service in the Health Service Executive Western Area for Counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon in the Republic of Ireland. It includes a literature review, an implementation report and an evaluation report. The literature review outlines the origins of the family group conference/family welfare conference model and describes its key features, principles and theoretical basis. The author identifies from the international literature a set of issues including the legal basis for family group conferencing, the degree to which empowerment principles of family group conferencing can be realized within a bureaucratic system and the role of family group conferencing in child protection case conferences. The implementation report describes the early development of the family welfare conference service in the region and outlines relevant administrative statistics up to the end of August 2004, including the number of referrals, conferences and reviews; referral sources and reasons; numbers and ages of children involved; costs of conferences; average time for coordination; conference venues; and other relevant process information. The evaluation report focuses on the perspectives of key stakeholders including family members, referrers, coordinators and senior personnel of childcare services. Themes explored include perceived outcomes and benefits of the service, the role and place of the family welfare conferencing service in the child care system and process and practice issues arising in the implementation. Recommendations are given for future development of the service. The consensus among stakeholders is that the model is most effective in early intervention, and while there is a broad openness to the model’s use in child protection and alternative care cases, core staff feel that it is currently under-used in these arenas.

Keywords: Republic of Ireland, Ireland, Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, literature review, implementation stage, program evaluation, process evaluation, cost analysis

Brown, L. (2007). The adoption and implementation of a service innovation in a social work setting – A case study of family group conferencing in the UK. Social Policy and Society, 6(3), 321-332.

This article draws on previous research by the author and uses the conceptual framework of innovation in public sector settings to consider the development of family group conferences in the United Kingdom. These prior studies used mixed methods and occurred between 1999 and 2001. The data come from two surveys and a series of case studies of a limited number of local authorities. The key features emerging from this study included the low use of family group conferencing services and the commonality of experience between implementing family group conferences and implementing other innovative approaches in the public sector. The analysis arrives at an understanding of the barriers to using family group conferences. The author suggests that these barriers are connected to the complexity of implementing innovative ideas in a highly proceduralized setting. Ways forward are identified, and these include identifying incentives to change, adopting change management techniques by implementers and taking seriously the resistance that staff concerned with child protection will present, perceiving the use of family group conferences as too risky.

Keywords: U.K., United Kingdom, England, child welfare, child well-being, developmental, program evaluation, qualitative case study, qualitative data, quantitative data

Connolly, M. (2004). Convening family group conferences: Coordinators talk about professional issues. Social Work Review, 16, 8-10.

This article represents a small qualitative study examining the professional issues experienced by care and protection coordinators who have been convening family group conferences since the early years of the New Zealand legislation. Coordinators talk about the issues that impact their practice within the contemporary environment. In particular, this research focuses on issues relating to the changing nature of the coordinating role within the child protection system and on professional issues such as supervision and training. While fiscal pressures, high staff turnover and increased experiences of violence affect the coordinator’s role in a variety of ways, coordinators nevertheless talked with enthusiasm about working with family-led decision-making.

Keywords: qualitative, New Zealand, child welfare, role of coordinator, child safety

Connolly, M. (2005). Consulting with care and protection resource panels: Coordinators’ perspectives. Te Awatea Review, 3(1), 9-11.

This article discusses the establishment of care and protection resource panels in New Zealand and the processes of consultation provided for in the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act (1989). It then reports the findings of a study that examined, from the perspective of the care and protection coordinator, the process of the coordinators’ consultation with care and protection resource panels, and the consultation’s perceived value and contribution to the coordinators’ work. Findings suggest that there is variability in the constituency, the perceived value of panels and the ways in which consultation takes place. Overall, while some coordinators talked positively about panels as a professional support, none found the advice useful with respect to convening the family group conference. The article then discusses the implications of these findings with respect to consultation with coordinators and more broadly, with social workers.

Keywords: role of coordinator, qualitative, child welfare, New Zealand, child safety

Connolly, M. (2006). Fifteen years of family group conferencing: Coordinators talk about their experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand. British Journal of Social Work, 36(4), 523-540.

This article represents a small qualitative study examining the experiences of care and protection coordinators who have been convening family group conferences since the early years of the New Zealand legislation. It explores early perceptions of the legislation, what first attracted the coordinators to the role and what keeps them in the job. In particular, the study explores the practice tensions that rest within family-centered child protection models, and the ways in which family group conferencing practice has developed in response to modern imperatives, including fiscal pressures. It found that small and subtle changes in practice can shift the emphasis from family-led to more professionally-driven processes. The author also notes the tensions that can exist when managing the family support and child protection functions of a family group conference. The study reinforces the importance of providing professional staff with both an early training foundation and ongoing training to best facilitate strengths-based policy and law.

Keywords: child welfare, role of coordinator, qualitative, New Zealand

Connolly, M. (2006). Up front and personal: Confronting dynamics in the family group conference. Family Process, 45(3), 345-357.

This article briefly describes the development and practice of family group conferencing as a family-centered legal process in New Zealand. It then examines the findings of a qualitative study exploring the dynamics emerging from family group conference practice from the perspective of the coordinators who convene them. Coordinators in four focus groups participated in a guided discussion across three broad areas: experiences of coordinating conferences and changes in practice over time; practice issues (e.g., what made conferences go well or poorly); and the coordinators’ perceptions of family and non-family participation and influence with respect to the family group conference process. The research indicates that there are benefits in creating a climate of honesty with families, creating the potential for families to deal honestly with the issues. The research indicates that private family time has the potential to promote within-family challenge and self-regulation. The article discusses professional power dynamics and suggests that professional conflicts have the potential to divert attention from family-led processes. It argues that skilled facilitation is needed to ensure that the process is family-led and focused on the child’s needs.

Keywords: New Zealand, child welfare, child safety, role of coordinator, qualitative data

Crow, G., Marsh, P., &Holton, E. (2004). Supporting pupils, schools and families: An evaluation of the Hampshire Family Group Conferences in Education Project. Sheffield, England: University of Sheffield and Hampshire County Council.

This report evaluates the work of the Hampshire family group conferences project, exploring its initial implementation and tracing the outcomes of a number of young people in the six to 12 months following their family group conferences. In relation to outcomes, 50 cases were included in the study. In relation to process, the report focused on 37 family group conferences. Interviews were carried out with family members and professionals, with a range of monitoring tools tracking outcomes. The report suggests the process was well-received by families, young people and professionals, with 90 percent of schools and 90 percent of family members saying they would recommend it to others. Positive outcomes for behavioral and attendance problems are identified in over half the cases, including “particularly serious” cases. The report stresses the importance of the work of the coordinator in bringing family members and professionals together in an “open and committed” partnership.

Keywords: U.K., United Kingdom, Hampshire, England, education, delivery system, child well-being, implementation stage, program evaluation, qualitative case study

Desmeules, G. H. (2003). Family group conferencing: A decolonization journey for aboriginal children and families in child protection services. Unpublished master’s thesis, Royal Roads University, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

This Canadian thesis is based on a qualitative, participatory action study which aimed to deepen and improve family group conferencing partnerships and ensure a cultural fit of the family group conferencing model for aboriginal children and families involved in the child welfare system for one tribe in British Columbia. The author directly observed one conference and facilitated another. Other methods included ongoing consultation with members of a collaborative group, a survey of four social workers, phone interviews with six conference participants, and an all-day focus group and sharing circle of 13 members. Recommendations included 1) changing the name of family group conferencing to include a more traditional circle; 2) integrating the stages of family group conferencing with healing; and 3) forming an aboriginal relations committee to develop a more culturally appropriate partnership and accommodate a matriarchal system into the family group conference model and ongoing collaborative learning.

Keywords: Canada, Alberta, indigenous, aboriginal, child welfare, process evaluation, child permanency, implementation stage

Duke University, Center for Child and Family Policy, Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy. (2006, June). Multiple response system (MRS) evaluation report to the North Carolina Division of Social Services (NCDSS). Durham, NC: Author. Retrieved December 8, 2008, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/d6/3a.pdf

This report concludes that overall, the multiple response system in North Carolina does not compromise the safety of children served by child welfare. Specifically, with reference to child and family teams, the multiple response system was found to be supported by carefully developed policy and training, but its delivery by the pilot counties was uneven. The study stresses the importance of child and family teams for the multiple response system: “The formation and utilization of a Child and Family Team (CFT) after case decision is at the core of MRS redesign of case planning and management” (p. 35). In a summary of their conclusions, though, they observed that “MRS pilot counties varied in the extent of implementation of this strategy as documented in the case files” (p. 6). This study identified some challenges to child and family team implementation: the reluctance of parents or caregivers to involve others in their family affairs, professionals outnumbering family as participants, and difficulties in convening meetings because of the different schedules of family, workers and community service providers. To advance child and family team practice, this report makes a series of recommendations. These include that the North Carolina Division of Social Services needs to specify “clear and measurable indicators for the full spectrum of activities for Child and Family Teams,” designate “best practice for the use of external facilitators for Child and Family Team meetings,” “develop standardized forms to document and track progress for MRS strategies, including forms for Child and Family Team meetings,” and “support the value of more training for both staff and supervisors on specific MRS strategies” (pp. 47-48).

Keywords: United States, U.S., North Carolina, child welfare, delivery system, developmental stage, program evaluation, process evaluation, qualitative data