ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at Family Group Conferences as a way of enabling families to be directly involved and responsible for decisions made about their children and young people. It considers the concept of empowerment as embedded in this way of working, and discuss the differential impact of this on various players in the model. The chapter examines how the co-ordinator can act as a broker in the relationship between statutory authority and family, and facilitate the implementation of a partnership between the different parties. The co-ordinator receives a referral from the project manager. She normally discusses this first with the referrer, who is usually the family social worker. She listens to the concerns raised by the social worker, and identifies the key questions to be answered. The co-ordinator revisits any ground rules, such as practising respect for all members of the meeting and expressing disagreement without threatening the others present.
