When do you use a Family Group Meeting?

 
In Cambridgeshire a Family Group Meeting can be used when there is a risk of a child or young person going into care because of problems in their family or to help them leave care and return to their family.

It can also be used to support positive changes to a child or young person’s family life or to stop a child or young person being harmed.

Who attends a Family Group Meeting?

All members of your family plus any friends you want to be there can come to the meeting. Also there is the relevant person who is working with you (normally your Social Worker) and the Family Group Meeting Co-ordinator.

Where does the Family Group Meeting take place?

The meeting takes place in a neutral venue that does not belong to Social Services or the family and is usually in a community centre or village hall. You can decide where the best place is with your Co-ordinator.

Who is the Family Group Meeting Co-ordinator?

The Co-ordinator is an independent person whose job it is to organise the meeting. The Co-ordinator will come and see you and your child/young person and talk to you about who to invite and where the meeting should be held. They will also give you and your family all the information you need about the reasons for the meeting and about how the meeting will work.

It is also the Co-ordinator’s job to ensure everyone gets the best opportunity to contribute to the meeting, taking into account language, religion and culture, as well as strongly held views and differences of opinion. Their aim is to make the meeting as comfortable and easy to understand as possible.

What happens at a Family Group Meeting?

There are 3 parts to the meeting:

Sharing what everyone knows

Everyone talks about why they are at the meeting and what they understand about the child or young persons situation. The family can ask as many questions as they want to understand clearly why the Social Worker (or other professional) is involved and what their concerns are.

Time on your own

The Co-ordinator and Social Worker (or other professional) then leave the room so that the family can have a private talk to discuss what they have heard. The family then agree a plan for the child or young person and how they will make that plan work.

Agreeing the plan

Once the family have made the plan, the Co-ordinator and the professional working with the family will come back into the meeting. The plan is then read through and everyone, including the professional, needs to agree the plan and how it will work.

Further information

 If you would like to have a Family Group Meeting about a child or young person or you would like to know more about Family Group Meetings use the contact details on the right.
 
You can also find further information on Family Group Meetings by looking at the Family Group Conferencing section of the Family Rights Group website www.frg.org.uk