Family Group Conferencing, (sometimes called Family Group Decision-Making, Family Unification Meeting, Family Led Decision-Making) is revolutionizing child welfare practice. In the US alone, 25 states are currently discussing or implementing some form of a family group conference program. " What started as an experiment in five communities [in the US] is now a widely recognized practice embraced by over 150 communities across the nation" said Lisa Merkel - Holquin, Programme Manager, American Humane Association USA, (Family Group Conferencing Worldwide: Part One in a Series). In fact studies consistently indicate that family group conferences result in a decrease of the number of children living in out of home care, less court involvement, more extended family involvement with the child or young person and improved cooperation among social workers, community organizations and families. (Merkel-Holquin, Burford, Nixon).
A recent study in Washington State shows that during a project involving 81 family group conferences, conducted for 96 children between 11 and 18 years of age living in group homes, that of the 57 youth included in the study, 36 percent had, at the end of a six month period, either returned home or left the group home to live with relatives. Another report puts it this way, "The practice of family group conferencing...is one way to get off the pendulum and address the safety of the children in the context of a permanent connection with families ... it can provide for both immediate safety, and long term family permanence and parental connections" Long Term and Immediate Outcomes of Family Group Conferencing.
In Texas, USA following several successful pilot projects, FGC is used in 58 counties, (Texas Department of Family & Protective Services, Final Evaluation October, 2006)