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Hertfordshire County Council

 

What is a family group conference?

A family group conference is a meeting for a child or young person, their family and their friends. It's a safe space where everyone can talk through concerns that have been raised, then come up with a plan to make things better.


How can it help?

We believe that families know themselves best. The meeting brings them together so they can:

  • talk through their issues and understand what's happening in each other's lives
  • think about what support they need
  • make a plan to resolve concerns and improve the safety of their children.

 

Who can have a family group conference?

We offer conferences to families of:

  • babies and unborn babies
  • children up to 18 years old
  • young people with a learning disability, up to 25 years old.

You can't self-refer to the service. If you think it could help, please ask your social worker or another professional.

 

Who will be at the meeting?

  • The child or young person (if they want to come).
  • Their parents or carers.
  • Anyone else they want to invite who can provide support, such as trusted friends, relatives or neighbours.
  • The family's social worker.
  • One of our coordinators. They're independent from Children's Services and don't make decisions about a young person's future.
  • A translator or sign language interpreter, if needed.

 

What will happen?

The process usually takes 6-8 weeks.

Before the meeting

  1. A professional will make a referral to us, if the family is happy to participate.
  2. One of our coordinators will meet the parents or carers to explain why the meeting is happening, how it will work and what questions we'll ask.
  3. Our coordinator will also ask the child or young person if they want to come to the meeting and if there's anything specific they want to be discussed.
  4. The family can decide when and where they'd like to meet and who they want to invite. Our coordinator will arrange it and meet with all attendees beforehand.

At the meeting

1. Information sharing - Everyone will introduce themselves. The social worker will explain the concerns and what needs to change, then answer any questions the family has.

2. Private family time - The coordinator and social worker will give the family questions to discuss, then leave the room. Families can take breaks, ask for help and take as long as they need.

3. Agreeing the plan - When the family is happy with their answers, the coordinator and social worker will come back in. They'll go through the plan and agree any actions.

After the meeting

  • Everyone will be sent a copy of the plan, which they should follow after the meeting.
  • The social worker and a nominated family member will check that the plan is working.

 

Find out more

Ask us a question

Privacy notice – Please read before submitting your information >

When you submit a question into the ask us box on this webpage, we need a contact number or email address from you in order to respond to your query.

This information is being gathered and will be processed on the basis that you are giving consent for us to do so. If you wish to withdraw consent at any time you can do so by emailing fgc@hertfordshire.gov.uk.

The information you give us will be held by the Family Group Conference team in Hertfordshire County Council and will only be used to respond to queries you have raised.

We will not share this information with a third party or use it for any other purpose.

We will only share information with third parties if we are legally obliged to do so, for example if it is necessary to safeguard or protect a child.

We may also share information with the police or other agencies if it is necessary for the following purposes:

  • the prevention or detection of crime
  • the apprehension or prosecution of offenders
  • the assessment or collection of any tax or duty or any imposition of a similar nature

The information that you supply to us will be kept on file until we have responded to your request. It will then be removed.

Hertfordshire County Council will be the Data Controller for this information.

You have the following rights in relation to this data:

  • You have the right to be informed about what information we hold about you and how we use it.
  • You have the right to request copies of any information the Council holds about you by making a subject access request.
  • If information we hold about you is factually inaccurate you have the right to have it corrected.
  • You have the right to object to the way we are using your data.
  • You have the right to request that your data is deleted. However we may be unable to delete your data if there is a need for us to keep it. In this case you will receive an explanation of why we need to keep the data.
  • You can also request that we stop using your data while we consider a request to have it corrected or deleted. There may be some circumstances in which we are unable to do this however we will provide an explanation if this is the case.
  • In certain circumstances you may also request data we hold about you in a format that allows it to be transferred to another organisation.
  • In the event that decisions are taken using automated processes you have the right to request that these decisions are reviewed by a member of staff and to challenge these decisions.

If you would like to request copies of your data, request that your data is deleted or have any other queries in relation to data which the Council holds about you please contact:

Data Protection Team
Hertfordshire County Council
County Hall
Pegs Lane
Hertford
SG13 8DQ
Tel: 01992 588099
Email: data.protection@hertfordshire.gov.uk

You can also contact our Data Protection Officer at dataprotection.officer@hertfordshire.gov.uk or in writing to the address above.

If you are unhappy with the way that Hertfordshire County Council has used your data or with the way we have responded to a request you also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office www.ico.org.uk.

 

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