West Berkshire – Family Group Conferences
IYPP PROJECT
6. Case Studies
Names and other details have been changed to maintain confidentiality.
The following two cases are examples of good outcomes achieved and we also chose the studies on the basis that they represented cases we received. They demonstrate that young people are clearly involved and "own" the process and that with the right preparation; families can come together to plan for young people effectively.
Both of the young people in the case studies are white, British males.
Case Study 1: Tony
Tony was 11 years old and first referred to the project by a worker in the Referral and Assessment Team within Children’s Services. Tony was temporarily living with his older sister in a town in the South East of England, but concerns were being raised about her care of him and about the temporary nature of his accommodation. His mother, who lived in a neighbouring county, was clear that she could no longer care for him and his father’s family in the South West of England had tried to rally round to find him a home. As a result he had lived at three different addresses in the previous four months and attended three different schools. He had also come to the attention of the Youth Offending Team following a serious incident at school.
The social worker felt that the family needed to come together to decide where Tony should live and to ensure that his transition into secondary school was well planned and supported.
Tony was very happy to engage in the process once he was assured that he would have an opportunity to give his opinion. He was very unhappy about living with his sister, and was clear about wanting to go home to his Mum.
The co-ordinator drew up a list of family members that Tony wanted to invite to the meeting and visited them all in preparation. During preparation, it became clear that a return home to his Mum was not an option. This was discussed with Tony prior to the meeting and other possibilities were explored.
The family met in the father’s county of residence one Saturday afternoon. Tony’s brother, who had also been put into foster care when he was 11, attended the meeting with his carer. His Mum came, as did his Dad and his family. It was a difficult meeting for all involved, but everyone agreed that some decisions needed to be made for Tony. After long deliberation, the family agreed that Tony could stay with his sister. Social Services were asked for parenting support for her and to assess her as a kinship carer. A school was identified for Tony and the family agreed to get back together for a review a couple of months later.
The review has not yet happened, as it has been cancelled several times. However, Tony continues to live with his sister and has now settled well. He is having regular contact with his extended family and is just beginning to get to know his brother again. His sister is attending a parenting programme where she is developing her skills in dealing with teenagers. Tony is now attending his secondary school on a regular basis and despite his special needs, is progressing better than had been anticipated. There have been no further incidents of offending.
Tony’s sister believes that without the Family Group Conference, Tony would now be in foster care and would not be nearly as settled as he is now.
Case Study 2: Peter
An Education Welfare Officer referred Peter (age 15) for a Family Group Conference. The referral focussed upon his non-attendance at school. However at the time of referral there were also concerns expressed about his offending. There were nine service providers working with the family but their joint plan was felt by the family to be uncoordinated and Peter’s mother was struggling to cope with the practicalities of getting her reluctant son to all the appointments with his workers. She was very concerned that Peter’s life was spiralling out of control and was “going off the rails”.
Peter was keen to have an FGC. He worked well with the co-ordinator in planning his meeting and deciding who would attend. Twelve family members came to the Family Group conference and worked in partnership with two of the service providers in creating a plan. As part of the process, the family talked through with Peter his strengths and some of his more concerning behaviours.
Their plan focussed upon Peter attending college and having greater support from family members. He has had three subsequent review meetings which have addressed his relationship with his family, supporting his new placement with wider family, reducing the likelihood of further offending behaviour and co-ordinating the support from the professional network.
Peter is very pleased with the improvement he and his family have made in his life. When he was recently interviewed about the experience, he said “Seriously, I think I’d be in prison if it wasn’t for this.
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