CHESTER COUNTY FAMILY GROUP DECISION MAKING

CHESTER COUNTY
FAMILY GROUP DECISION MAKING
The Family is one of nature’s masterpieces.
- George Santayana

History of FGDM
Moari Tribe –New Zealand
“PUAO-TE-ATA-TU” (DAY BREAK)
13 Recommendations to the department of social welfare
1989 Children, Young Persons, and their Family Act
Spread to Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, and USA

Unique Features of FGDM in PA
Emphasis is on the strengths of the family.
Strengths are the tools used to solve concerns.
Communicating using the language of concerns.
Addressing concerns in a different way.

Family as The Primary
Decision Maker
• Family has power and accountability.
• Family defines who is family and decides who
attends.
• Family gathering not an agency meeting.
• Family Private Time helps insure that the plan
is coming from the family.
• Site of meeting chosen by the family.

Transformational Process
FGDM is not a program
It requires a change in thinking and behavior, especially in
agency staff.
It challenges dominant practice.
It requires building partnerships.
It is a practice / way of thinking.
FGDM is a process
FGDM is an extensive process that involves vast preparation.
Process begins when the referral source offers FGDM to the
family:
“Would you like to do things differently?”

Values and Beliefs
Families have strengths and can change.
Strengths resolve concerns.
Strengths are discovered through listening, noticing and paying
attention to people. – L. Graber and J. Nice, Family Unity Model
Family Members should be the primary decision makers for their family.
Empowering people is preferable to controlling them.
Empowering families will lead to families controlling their lives.
Family Members know their families best.
Families are the experts.

Values and Beliefs
Children are best raised in families.
Families should be respected.
Mistakes are opportunities for growth and development. – Kinpower Associates,
New Zealand
All families have the greatest investment in seeing their children safe and
successful.
All families have the ability to come together and solve family concerns.
All families have some resources they can count on to help them in times of
need.
Families should choose which relatives, friends, and providers will attend their
conference.

FGDM Roles
Family Members
Primary decision makers throughout the process
Decide who will be invited to the conference
Have the power and the accountability throughout the process
Create a plan that will address the concerns
Referral Source
Introduce the family to FGDM
Support the family
Establish bottom line concerns
Identify resources for the family
Accept and support the family plan

FGDM Roles
Coordinator
Obtain a consent form to contact the persons on the invitation list
Explain participants’ role in the conference
Secure/expand the guest list
Ensure that all persons can participate safely
Explain the concept of a support person
Explain the concept of a guest speaker
Explain the purpose of the meeting
Secure location and food for the meeting
Identify the family ritual
Invite all participants
Plan for a safe conference
Facilitate the Pre-conference meeting

FGDM Roles
Co-facilitator
Scribe
Helps monitor group dynamics
Seeks clarification of strength and concerns
Service Providers
Share information relevant to the purpose
Provides resources to the family
Support Person
Provides emotional support to
a family member
Ensures that the family
member’s voice is heard
Speaks for a family member if
needed

Guidelines for FGDM
Focus on the Purpose Be Respectful of each other
Honesty without blaming or shaming
One person speaks at a time
Its ok to disagree
Confidentiality
What is said here, stays here
Mandated Reporting
Additional family guidelines

The Four Stages of FGDM
1. Referral
2. Preparation
Family Contact
Pre-Conference
Referring Worker
3. Family Group Conference
4. Follow Up

The FGDM Conference
Introductions:
Participants introduce themselves and identify
how they are connected to the family
Information Sharing:
Review guidelines and purpose of FGC
Participants discuss the family’s strengths and joys
Discuss concerns related to the purpose statement
Share community resource information

The FGDM Conference
Private Family Time: Family meal
Once the meal is served, service providers leave the
room. The family develops their own plan to address
all the concerns and safety for the children.
Plan Presentation, Consideration, and Acceptance:
The group comes together to hear the plan created by
the family. The referral source may ask questions and
help fine tune the plan. The referral source agrees to
support the plan if all criteria is met, it is safe, meets
the needs of the child, and is legal.

Benefits of FGDM
Family is invested in the plan. The family has a say and is more
likely to follow through with a plan they helped to create.
Often creates more stable living arrangements by keeping
children in their family unit and decreasing hostility.
Creates better futures for our children by decreasing their
involvement in formal systems and decreasing repeat offenses.

Benefits of FGDM
Increases family ownership by having family and extended
resources take over the decision making and accountability.
Opportunity to strengthen families and to
have families resolve concerns in a safe
environment.
Saves time by frontloading.
Can reduce the amount of time a
referral source works with a
family.

CYF Benefits
• Reduced time in placement
• Families make their own plan
• Kinship resources identified early
• Use of community/natural resources
• Court more likely to go along with plan
that is already sanctioned by the family

JPO Benefits
• Fits in with BARJ Principles
• Reduced time in placement
• Use of community/natural supports
• Court more likely to go along with a plan
that is already sanctioned by the family

MH Benefits
• Fits with Wellness and Resiliency Model
• Reduced time in placement
• Use of community/natural resources

Contact
Karin Leet
FGDM Coordinator
Chester County CYF
(610) 344-5800 Office
(610) 883-1203 Cell