1. Sandwell’s Family Group Conferencing Service
Leaflet for Families
Family Group Conference Service
Family solutions Team
Early Help
Oldbury Council House
Oldbury
B69 3DE
If you are not sure if a FGC is right for you or your family or not, we would be happy to speak with you about this. We can be contacted by We can arrange to visit you and your family to talk some more what happens at a Family Group meeting and answer any questions you may have.
How you can have your say
We need families to tell us what they think about Family Group Meetings. We need to know the things we do well and the things we don’t do so well. You will be asked at the end of your meeting to answer a few questions.
You may also be contacted at a later date to see if you would like to have some input in how the FGC service can be developed and improved. Your opinions matter to us.
We will also be looking for family members willing to talk to other families who are thinking about having a FGC and who would like to talk to someone who has been through it already.
Families creating
brighter futures
Name of Convenor:
Contact details:

2. All families are unique
All families are unique. All families come up against difficulties from time to time. Usually the family manage to sort these difficulties out for themselves. Sometimes though the problem is more complicated or is harder to sort out and other professionals may be involved with the family.
 Family Group Conferences (or Family Group Meetings) provide the opportunity for family members to get together to try to find a solution to a problem, or if that’s not possible, ways that they can support the family and help them cope. The family choose the date, time, venue of the meeting, who should attend and even what food they would like.
You will probably be looking at this leaflet because you have been offered a Family Group Meeting. Families can choose if they want a Family Group meeting or not.
If you decide to have a family group meeting you will be supported by an independent convenor (they do not make any decisions about your family)   
At Sandwell’s family group conference service we have a FGC coordinator, Andrea Underhill and three convenors: Gill Punshon; Jamie Owen and Sandra Welcome.
Who should come to a Family Group Conference?
The best people to help a child or young person are usually their own relatives. Sometimes friends who you think of as part of the family also attend. Where possible, everyone important to your child should be invited.
The convenor will visit everyone who will be attending and will help prepare them for the meeting.
On the day…
The first part of the meeting is about information sharing. The convenor will:
Ask everyone to introduce themselves.
Make sure that everyone present understands what the purpose of the family group meeting is.
Ensure everyone agrees to what would help make a good meeting.
Talk about the worry that needs to be discussed and about the plan that needs to be made.
Let everyone know what will and will not be accepted by the referrer will also be discussed (known as ‘the bottom line’).
Private family time
This is the most important part of the meeting. Your family and friends will have private family time to discuss and agree a plan. At this point the professionals and the convenor will leave.
During family time you will have opportunity to:
• agree a plan
• decide who will do what
• discuss how you will ensure that the plan works well
• work out who will help you if the plan does not work well.
You can take as much time as you need to discuss these issues. The convenor will be close by and you can ask for support if you wish.
Everyone has the right to feel safe. During preparation you will discuss any worries or concerns that you have. If at any time during private family time you feel that it is getting too much for you, you are free to leave or to call the convenor back in. Rules for success will already have been discussed and agreed.
Once you have agreed on a family plan, the convenor will invite the professionals back to join the meeting and the plan will be agreed.  
Review of the plan
A date will be set where everyone can meet again to see if the plan is working or if the plan needs to be changed in any way. The date and time of this meeting will be agreed before everyone leaves.