Involving Children in Family Group Conferences
By Jeanette Schmid and Darlene Sykes

Child welfare workers often become anxious about children being invited into the Family Group Conferencing process, fearing that the children will become re-victimized. Research by Holland and O’Neill (2006) suggests that while there is the possibility that children may become vulnerable, they can participate safely and comfortably with proper preparation.

There are a number of reasons why children should have a voice in the FGC process:

• The conference is about the child, and the child thus should be able to have input into the decision making
• The child needs to witness the circle of adults developing a plan and committing to ensuring the child’s safety and well being
• The adults are more able to put conflicts aside when the child is there, as the child’s presence helps them focus on the issues that have brought them to the conference
• Many family members may not have had the opportunity to meet the child (in the case of an infant apprehended at birth) or to reconnect with the child.

The coordinators, in preparing all participants for the conference, are cognizant of and open to hearing from service providers and family members about any concerns they may have about the child’s safety in the meeting. The coordinator will alert family members to any concerns service providers have raised, allowing the family circle to decide on an appropriate safety plan.

For any verbal child, preparing the child face-to-face is a critical part of the coordinator’s role. This is done in an age/stage-appropriate manner using various aids such as drawings or dollhouse chairs to engage the child.  The coordinator will:

•  Make a clinical judgment as to whether to meet the child alone, or with another service provider (such as the Children’s Lawyer, the children’s worker or foster parent), relative or siblings
• Share information regarding the purpose of the meeting, how the conferencing process works, and who is likely to attend. This means that the child needs to have heard the reasons for child welfare involvement explicitly from the child welfare team ahead of meeting with the coordinator.  Any ‘secrets’ need to come out into the open. For example, the child welfare team needs to be clear that the father who was thought to be ‘picking oranges in Florida’ is actually in prison or that time is running out and the family will be talking about permanency planning or adoption
• Explain that the child can inform the adults of what they should consider when developing the plan. Typically, the Children’s Lawyer will help the child write up a statement so that the child’s voice is heard at the meeting
• Invite the child to identify a support person within his/her family group. This individual in turn will be coached by the coordinator to ensure that s/he is able to support the child through the conference and where appropriate represent the child. The child may request that this person read his/her statement to the family group
• Identify any anxieties or safety concerns with the child so an appropriate safety plan can be developed for the day or leading up to the meeting day
•  Inform the child of the safety plan that his/her family group has developed for the conference. The coordinator will never pressure a child to attend a conference!
• Ask the child whether s/he would like the beginning of the conference celebrated in any particular way. Children have written poems, prepared a poster, danced, picked a symbolic song or sang a song to welcome relatives and friends to the conference. Some children have also drawn up invitations for the conference.

The coordinator further relies on others involved with the child to support him/her through the process. Foster parents and caregivers are requested to be particularly sensitive to the emotions evoked both before and after a conference. They can help the child anticipate the day. Counsellors and children’s service workers often discuss the child’s fears and expectations with them. Trusted family members, particularly the support person, may have conversations with the child ahead of the conference to ensure that what is important to the child is heard at the conference.

While involvement in the conference is strongly encouraged, the child does not have to be at the conference or in the conference room. The child may choose someone from the family network to speak on his/her behalf if it does not seem that the environment will be emotionally and physically safe. Children may also choose to remain in the playroom for much of the conference, entering the meeting at points that feel comfortable to them. Service providers need to allow the family members to take care of the child throughout the conference day. Childcare staff are also on hand to provide practical supervision and activities when children are in the play room.

Children are key in the preparation process as they, like their adult counterparts, carry information about the family. For example, one child was able to facilitate the coordinator’s access to the grandmother, who was the family matriarch and who in turn ensured that a wide circle attended the conference.

Children enjoy attending conferences. They are excited about having cousins and young friends present and reconnecting with the adults in their lives. They typically want to be involved in the planning and have their voice heard in decision making and to share the outcomes with others. Adults need to take care to incorporate the children’s views in their decision-making and to share the outcome with the children before the conference is finally concluded.

Below are some quotes from children and youth who have attended conferences:

 “No matter how far away my mom and dad are, they are always on my mind and in my heart”.

“The people here are all the people that love me - and this is not even half of them!”

“This plan is about me, and so I will tell you (child welfare team) what we have decided.”

“If feel very sad about things right now but I am happy we are together today.”

“We got to sit together as a family and talk about things without CAS being there.”

“The family meeting today allowed me to think about my future.”

About the Authors

Jeanette Schmid was the program coordinator at the Toronto Family Group Conferencing Project for six years and is a consultant and a member of the provincial training team.

Darlene Sykes worked as a private contractor for Brant CAS as their FGCM project coordinator for three years, has been the FGCM coordinator for Simcoe CAS for three years. She is also an agency and provincial trainer and mentor. 

Both authors were involved from the early stages of the respective projects.

References

Holland, S., and O’Neill, S. (2006). “We had to be there to make sure it was what we wanted- Enabling children’s participation in family decision-making through the family group conference”, Childhood, 13(1), pp. 91-111.

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