Family Group Conferences

A Family Group Conference (FGC) is a family-led meeting that gives you and your wider family a stronger voice in decisions about your child. It is voluntary and helps families work together to keep children safe and supported.

If your child has a social worker and there are concerns about school attendance or home routines, you can ask for an FGC. It often happens alongside a Child in Need (CIN) assessment or before care proceedings.

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 - consultation document

When a FGC could help

FGCs are offered when families need support to make decisions about a child’s safety and wellbeing. Common scenarios include:

  • school attendance concerns such as persistent absence or lateness
  • behavioural challenges at home or school
  • contact arrangements when family members disagree about who sees the child and when
  • housing or financial stress affecting the child’s stability
  • health or care needs where extra support is needed for a child with disabilities or long-term conditions
  • before care proceedings to explore family-based solutions first

The benefits of a FGC

  • You create your own family plan to reduce concerns
  • Everyone agrees who will do what, when and how often
  • The impact, nationally:
    • 90% of families report high satisfaction (Family Rights Group, 2022)
    • children are less likely to enter care after an FGC (Lancaster University study, 2020)
    • more children stay with relatives if they cannot live at home (Family Rights Group, 2022)
    • better outcomes for school attendance and behaviour (FRG research, 2022)

A parent’s view

Bella, January 2026 (face to face chat with Ealing mum who had a Family Group Conference)

“having friends and family physically present, moved support away from being transactional and gave a rounded picture of me as a person and parent, it made me feel powerful, heard, seen…less judged”

“moved it from a process to personal”

What happens at an FGC

  • An independent coordinator helps you prepare
  • You choose who attends, whether it is family, friends, or someone else from the community
  • It is held in a neutral venue with food provided
  • There are 3 stages:
    1. Information sharing – your child’s social worker explains any concerns, and the support available
    2. Private family time – your family creates the plan without professionals present
    3. Agreeing the plan – your family shares the plan with the coordinator and social worker

Consent

After the FGC

  • Tthe coordinator writes up the family plan and shares it
  • You can request a review meeting in 3 to 6 months

Our journey so far

  • FGCs launched across the borough in April 2024
  • In 2025, over 90% of families taking part reported feeling confident by their FGC
  • Meanwhile, 83% said they would recommend an FGC to others

Need to know more?

  • Speak to your child’s social worker or contact the council’s FGC service.
  • The Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) advice line is for parents, family, friends supporting parents and child, partner agencies in education and health and internal teams in children services who want advice about any form of family group decision making, what this looks like and how they can access it: