Family Group Conferences in Child Welfare

Foreword; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1 Introduction: Care Services and Families:; Families, services and child welfare problems; Deciding seriousness; Engaging in the debate; Gaining agreement; Developing services; The Family Gorup Conference programme; Conclusions; 2 Families and Child Welfare:; Families in the UK; Help and the family; The meaning of family; Conclusions; 3 Family Group Conferences: Policy and Practice:; The background of Family Group Conferences; Key dimensions of a Family Group Conference; The process of Family Group Conferencs; A rough guide to co-ordinating Family Group Conferences; Conclusions; 4 Establishing Family Group Conferences:; Implementation in child welfare; Training; A rough guide to training for family group conferences; The projects in action; Conclusions; 5 International Developments and Research:; The international dimension; The research data; International research: key themes; Conclusions; 6 The Process: Family Group Conferences in Action:; The conference members; The process; Participants' view of the model; Conclusions; 7 Co-ordinators' Work:; Experiences of the "rough guide" traveller; Thinking of the conference as a special, theatrical event; The co-ordinator's conclusions; 8 Outcomes:;The plans; Implementation; Outcomes; Comparing outcomes; Unplanned outcomes; Conclusions; 9 The Next Stages: Child welfare, partnership and Family Group Conferences; Costs and benefits; Implementation; The way forward;; References; Index.