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Summary

Hennessy, Julia and Gillett, Tanya and Mauger, John (2000). Introduction/history/context of FGC’s in Essex Paper presented at the Restorative and Community Justice: Inspiring the Future conference, held in Winchester, England, 28-31 March.

The family group conference (FGC), first used in New Zealand, is a way of involving families in decision-making and planning arrangements for the care, protection, or supervision of their children and young people. In England, Essex County Council is one of a small number of local authorities using this model in Social Services practice, with significant success, according to the authors of this paper. The authors trace the development of the FGC concept and program in Essex in the late 1990s into 2000. They also examine the program’s outcomes and their effects on participants in the FGCs.