A new charity report highlights how an evidence-based model of family-led decision making can help keep children out of care.

The Foundations report comes as the Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill moves through the House of Lords – including a proposal to mandate Family Group Decision-Making (FGDM).

Dr Jo Casebourne, chief executive of Foundations, said: ‘As the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill progresses, our new report is a timely reminder of the importance of following the evidence when it comes to supporting families whose children are at risk of going into care but who, with the right plan in place, may be able to stay safely with their families. Today’s report shows that many local authorities are already seeing the benefits of Family Group Conferences in their areas.’

The report highlights success stories from local authorities across the country and builds on the first and largest trial of FGCs, which found that FGCs can prevent over 2,000 children a year from entering care and rolling out FGCs across England could save over £150m within two years.

Successful case studies include Tower Hamlets which has developed an innovative model for training FGC coordinators to work within their local authority or swap with others to ensure the needs of diverse communities are well supported.

In Leeds, FGCs have saved an estimated £755 per family as children have spent less time in care and in Milton Keynes the FGC team works closely with social workers to clarify why a family has been offered an FGC, helping the wider family to hear the child’s voice and also use creative approaches to involve fathers who do not live at home.

Jane Towey in the Family Participation Service at Tower Hamlets, said: ‘In Tower Hamlets our extensive FGC offer is at the heart of our Better Together way of working respectfully with families to keep children within their family network wherever it is safe and feasible to do so. FGCs enable families to lead on planning so that children can remain safely cared for within a loving family network, with support. In Tower Hamlets we think of FGCs as the way we do things round here, rather than a separate approach. Families can access FGC from an early point right through to care proceedings and beyond.

‘Foundations’ new evidence-based resource on FGCs is timely given the emphasis on family-led decision-making in the proposed legislation. It will prove helpful for all local authorities – but more importantly, it will give more families across the UK the opportunity to lead on decision making through their own FGCs.’

Lee Peart is editor of Hemming Group’s Healthcare Management magazine.