Family%20Group%20Decision%20Making%20101

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An Overview of Family Group Decision Making
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Terminology

• Family Group Conference or FGC (New Zealand,
  1989)
• Family Unity Meeting Model or FUM (Oregon, 1990)
• Family Group Decision Making or FGDM (Canada,
  1994)
• Family Conferences
• (Santa Clara County, CA, 1995)
• Family Decision Meetings or FDMs
• (Stanislaus County, CA)
• Family Team Decisionmaking
• or Team Decisionmaking

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History in the Making

• Family Group Conference (New Zealand, 1989)
• Disproportionate number of minorities in
  out-of-home care
• Length of time children spend in out-of-home care
• Multiple placements
• Minimization of governmental interventions
• Family Unity Meeting Model (Oregon, 1990)

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Philosophies

• Families want, and have the right, to protect
  their children.
• Responsibility and commitment
• Families make good decisions.
• Expertise, wisdom, and power
• Professionals can ensure that decisions protect
  children.
• Check and balance system/veto power
• Community agencies can support family decisions.

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Benefits

• Strengthens Families
• Harnesses family responsibility
• Counters isolation
• Strengthens Decisions
• More informed plans
• Increases familys sense of control and buy-in
• Strengthens Systems
• Community ownership of child protection and
  safety
• Mobilizes natural and community resources
• Decreases professional burden and responsibility

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Key Elements to a Strengthsbased Approach

• Respects the significance of family to human
  beings.
• Assumes an inner competence and logic in
  everyones behavior.
• Embraces an underlying faith that all families
  have strengths.
• Assumes that focusing on strengths will activate
  them as resources for problem solving.

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Key Elements to a Strengthsbased Approach

• Highlights those qualities within the family and
  helping system that promote health, cohesion, and
  growth.
• Acknowledges that the familys own constructive
  solutions to problems are the ones that are the
  most effective and lasting.
• Is both an attitude or value and a way of working.

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Strengths of the FGC Process in Creating Solutions

• Assetsacknowledgement of strengths, resources
  and potential.
• Resilienceperseverance in using unique FGC
  opportunity to create solutions to identified
  concerns.

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Strengths of the FGC Process in Creating Solutions

• Partnershipfamily and non-family meeting
  together to share information and demonstrate
  caring about a child.
• Mutualitycreating an atmosphere to communicate
  openly and respectfully about concerns.

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Strengths of the FGC Process in Creating Solutions

• Optimizationgoal is for family to take
  information about concern and generate solutions
  based on their strengths and capacities to create
  a well defined and achievable plan.
• Hoperecognizing individual and family strengths
  that foster a sense of hope about what is
  possible and then embracing responsibility for
  helping the possible become the reality.

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Purpose of FGDM

• To establish a process for families to join with
  relatives and friends to develop a plan to ensure
  that children are cared for and protected from
  future harm.

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The Players

• Family Members Nuclear and extended family
  members.
• Children Guidelines age appropriate and
  support person.
• Support Persons Preselected persons to provide
  emotional support for children under 16 years,
  for adults who have been victims of abuse or are
  at-risk, and for offenders.

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The Players

• Resource/Information Providers Persons with
  information and/or resources (professionals and
  community agency representatives.)
• Friends Non-biological family or fictive kin.

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The Players

• Coordinator Sets up the meeting, may serve as a
  facilitator.
• Referring Social Worker Presents case
  information to the family during the Information
  Stage and helps the family resource their plan in
  the Decision Stage.

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FGDM Process

• FGC Stages
• Introductions
• Information sharing
• Private family time
• Plan presentation, consideration, and acceptance

• Four Main Phases
• Referral to hold the conference
• Preparation and planning activities
• Conference
• Post-conference events and planning

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Phase 1.Referral

• When in the life of the case?
• Application of screening criteria? (e.g., type of
  case, family issues)
• Timeliness between referral and conference?
• Role of the Coordinator/Public Agency worker?

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One Distinctive Element of FGC is Preparation

• Demonstrates to families the service providers
  commitment to a process that strengthens families
  and refocuses the primary responsibility for
  children back on the family where it belongs
  (Merkel-Holguin Ribich, 2001).

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Preparation Requires a Time Commitment

• Research demonstrates that both the coordinators
  ability AND the quality of preparation and
  planning correlate with the overall success of
  the conference (Maxwell Morris, 1993 Paterson
  Harvey, 1991).

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Preparation Requires a Time Commitment

• Although the amount of time it takes to
  adequately prepare families for an FGC varies,
  available data indicate that an average of 2235
  hours per FGC is necessary to undertake the
  comprehensive activities in this phase (Burford
  Pennell, 1995 Crow Marsh, 1999).

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Why is Thorough Preparation Important?

• Shows a commitment to FGC philosophy and process.
• Demonstrates a commitment to a broader network of
  family.
• Helps families recognize their own strengths and
  importance in the life of a child.   

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Why is Thorough Preparation Important?

• Invites families to be responsible for a child
  they love.
• Helps families create safety in a new partnership
  with social service systems.
• Acknowledges the richness and diversity of a
  family culture.

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Why is Thorough Preparation Important?

• Mobilizes family strengths, wisdom, history,
  commitment, resources, and expertise to support a
  safe and effective family group conference.
• Mobilizes the strengths of others and gains their
  buy-in into the FGDM process.
• Empowers workers and others in a more
  participatory process to see the strengths and
  capacities of families.

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Phase 2.Key Elements of Preparation

• Informed Consent
• Confidentiality
• Neutrality
• Explain Purpose, Process and Roles
• Understand Family Culture
• Achieve Buy-In
• Create a Climate of Safety

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Other Important Preparation Activities

• Immediate safety of the child
• Working with family to define family
• Inviting participants
• Involving offenders and children
• Soliciting the views of those not attending
• Coordinating logistics/hosting

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Phase 3.The Actual FGC

• Introductions
• Family culture/traditions
• Information Sharing
• Various ways to facilitate this stage
• No professional recommendations

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Phase 3.The Actual FGC

• Private Family Deliberation
• Consensus if non-family members stay
• Allotment of time
• Plan Presentation, Consideration, Acceptance
  (Also Called Decision)
• Professional presence

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Phase 4.Planning and Decision

• The Plan
• Family presents plan to the Coordinator and
  Referring Social Worker and other resource
  providers
• Back-up plan
• Review, flesh out, detail and resource the plan

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Phase 4.Planning and Decision

• If referring worker cannot agree with the plan
  for safety reasons, ask family if they would like
  further private family time

• Create Monitoring Function
• Plan Acceptance
• Conclude Conference

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Post-Conference Events

• Plan Recording and Distribution
• Implementation and Monitoring
• Evaluation
• Follow-up Meetings

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Reflections
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Group Decision Making Methods

• Autocratic or Directive Style of Decision Making
• Autocratic With Group Information Input
• Autocratic With Groups Review and Feedback
• Individual Consultative Style
• Group Consultative Style
• Group Decision Style
• Participative Style
• Leaderless Team