ABSTRACT
Conferencing within Northern Ireland's child welfare system may be in its infancy but it is a growing practice. This chapter examines the development throughout Northern Ireland of Family Group Conferences (FGCs) within the welfare field. It reviews the legislative background that allowed for the possibility of FGCs, the involvement of the voluntary and statutory sectors, and the importance of the role of the coordinator. In February 1996, a two-day FGC workshop was organized by their Area Child Protection Committee within the northern board. Child Protection Case Conferences are a key decision-making forum and formal mechanism for the professional and family systems to interact. Families who attended have indicated that they were essentially professional-led meetings. FGC coordinators believe that their experience illustrates that the process of decision making and planning is so qualitatively different for all concerned that eventually this will become the preferred way of making decisions and plans for children and families.
