Family Group Conferences in Social Work: Involving Families in Social Care Decision Making

Family group conferences (FGCs) are a strengths-based approach to social work practice, empowering families to take responsibility for decision-making. It is a cost-effective service, which is currently used by the majority of local authorities.

This collection discusses the origins and theoretical underpinnings of family led decision making and brings together the current research on the efficacy and limitations of FGCs into a single text.

This insightful book also covers topics such as the use of FGCs in different areas of children and families social work, uses case studies to illustrate current practice, and explores whether FGCs should become a mainstream function of children and families social work.

University of York

Deanna Edwards is a qualified social worker with extensive experience of using family group conferences (FGCs) in the area of child protection. She has spent a number of years training FGC practitioners in the UK.

Kate Parkinson qualified as a social worker in 1998. She has worked within the field of children and families social work for 15 years before taking up her post at the University of Salford. Kate has worked within the areas of child protection, early intervention and looked after children.