Family Group Conferencing New Directions in Community-Centered Child and Family Practice

Family Group Conferencing indicates a large-scale shift in assumptions about the way child welfare services are planned and delivered - away from models that emphasize pathology, and toward those seeking an ecological understanding of the families and social networks involved. The contributors also present a wealth of information on related approaches, such as community conferences, circles, and wraparound services. The British Journal of Social Work noted that 'there are issues relating to both process and outcome. This book offers some answers that are intelligent and passionate.'

Contributors; General Introduction: Family Group Conference Programming; Introduction: Origins and Philosophical Framework; 1: Searching for the Roots of Conferencing; 2: Family Group Conferencing Cultural Origins, Sharing, and Appropriation—A Maori Reflection; 3: Democracy, Community, and Problem Solving; 4: Conferencing and the Community; 5: Guiding Principles of the Conferencing Process; Introduction: Practice Frameworks; 6: Family Group Conferences as “Good” Child Welfare Practice; 7: Family Group Conferencing as Person-Environment Practice; 8: Restorative Practices with High-Risk Youth; 9: Family Group Conference Connections Shared Problems and Solutions; 10: Bringing the Community Back in Patch and Family Group Decision-Making; 11: Establishing Shared Responsibility for Child Welfare through Peacemaking Circles; 12: Social Network Theory, Research, and Practice Implications for Family Group Conferencing; 13: The Wraparound Process with Children and Families; 14: “Just Therapy” with Families and Communities; 15: Making Action Plans in Vermont; 16: Family Group Decision-Making and Family Violence; Introduction: Comparative Practices; 17: Conferencing in New Zealand Child Protection; 18: Family Group Conferences in Sweden; 19: Conferencing in England and Wales; 20: The Evolution of Conferencing within Child Welfare in Northern Ireland; 21: Diversions and Departures in the Implementation of Family Group _Conferencing in the United States; 22: Family Group Conferences in Four Australian States; 23: Implementing and Evaluating Family Group Conferences The New South Wales Experience; 24: Initiating Conferencing Community Practice Issues; 25: Family Decision Process Healing the Fractured Relationship; 26: Family Group Decision-Making in Oregon; Introduction: Evaluating Family Group Conferences; 27: Restorative Conferencing and Theory-Based Evaluation; 28: Data Collection in a Family Group _Conference Evaluation Project; 29: Families as Resources The Washington State Family Group Conference Project 1; 30: Evaluating and Implementing Family Group Conferences The Family and Community Compact in Kent County, Michigan

Gale Burford