Family Group Decision Making (FGDM)

This is a program for parents of abused and/or neglected children that defines an “extended family group” as a leader in making decisions about the safety and well-being of children.
The program positions parents and children in a larger family group composed of people affectively connected to that family, and offers support for planning childcare and protection strategies. The goal is to build alliances for the process and prevent institutional interventions focused only on parents and children from alienating this nucleus from the support of the rest of the family and friends.
When a decision must be made, families are gathered in a meeting with social workers and an independent coordinator, which ensures a collaborative and non-coercive progression of the conversation. Meetings among the extended family group are also encouraged to independently discuss emerging demands and practice autonomy and responsibility.

Impact evaluations

Impact evaluation studies show that children served by the program were less likely to be placed in foster care, emergency homes and/or in permanent custody by court order. Children who receive the intervention are more likely to live with their families, and less likely to report episodes of maltreatment, physical, and sexual abuse. However, more episodes of neglect were detected [1] [2] [3] [4].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Pennell, J. & Burford, G. (2000). Family Group Decision Making: Protecting Children and Women. Child Welfare, 79(2), 131–158. https://www. jstor .org /stable/45400209

[2] Gunderson, K., Cahn, K., & Wirth, J. (2003). The Washington State long-term outcome study. Protecting Children, 18(1-2), 42-47.

[3] Sundell, K. & Vinnerljung, B. (2004). Outcomes of family group conferencing in Sweden. A 3-year follow-up. Child Abuse & Neglect, 28(3), 267–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2003.09.018

[4] Walker, L. (2005). A cohort study of ‘Ohana conferencing in child abuse and neglect cases. Protecting Children, 19(4), 36-46. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2137955

Information source

The California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse