Family Group Conferences and Social Work: Some Observations about the United Kingdom and New Zealand

Source: (-0001) London: Family Rights Group. Downloaded 5 May 2004.

Social work, writes Mike Doolan, is having difficulty coming to terms with the notion of family led decision-making in child welfare matters. Yet family group conference (FGC) practice, Doolan asserts, embodies many values and skills that social workers prize. With this in mind he argues that family FGC is a good idea that should be embraced and employed by social workers; additionally, it is a growing phenomenon that must be regarded as inevitable by social workers. Hence, Doolan describes the means and ends of FGC, discusses FGC and its context in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and proposes ways social workers can foster and improve the application of FGC in those contexts.