The impact of the Public Law Outline on Family Group Conference services in England & Wales
Tuesday, 27 April 2010 08:00
Family Rights Group runs the national Family Group Conference (FGC) network which provides a forum for FGC services in England and Wales to share experiences and develop best practice guidance on convening FGCs in a child welfare context. Membership of the network currently stands at 78, comprising the majority of FGC services in England and Wales
Following the introduction of the Public Law Outline (PLO) in April 2008, it became apparent that FGC services in England and Wales were not only receiving a rise in referrals for FGCs but were also being asked to convene more FGCs for children who were either on the edge of care or were the subject of care proceedings than previously.
Family Rights Group was awarded funding by the Family Justice Council in the Autumn of 2008 to explore this further, looking particularly at the impact of the PLO on FGC services and practice. The findings of that survey are now available here
www.family-justice-council.org.uk/docs/Report_on_the__impact_of__the_PLO.pdf
and a summary is attached below for your information.
We also take this opportunity to inform you that Family Rights Group, in consultation with the FGC network, has written a paper entitled Using Family Group Conferences for children who are, or may become, subject to public law proceedings: A guide for Courts, Lawyers, CAFCASS and CAFCASS CYMRU officers and Child Care Practitioners. This document describes the FGC model and how it works in practice. It has been endorsed by the Family Justice Council and by CAFCASS. It is available at the following website:
www.family-justice-council.org.uk/docs/FGCs_and_courts.pdf
Further practice guidance, drawn up by Family Rights Group in consultation with the FGC network, on using FGCs in the court arena, will also be available later this year at www.frg.org.uk
Finally, we are aware that FGC services are increasingly making contact with their local FJCs so as to contribute to multi-agency discussion about local practice issues. If you have not already been contacted by your local FGC service, it may be that you would wish to make the links directly yourself. If so, Family Rights Group can provide details of your local FGC service – please contact
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who will also be able to answer any other queries about the FGC network.
Yours sincerely
Bridget Lindley
Chair of Parents and Relatives Sub-Group &
Member of the Family Justice Council (Consumer Interests – Parents' Representative)
