In_America

This book chapter examines the challenges that arise when trying to transform child welfare services. John Braithwaite’s model of responsive regulation and the Braithwaite pyramid are applied to family group conferencing in child welfare. The authors note that Braithwaite’s model helps to understand the relation of two seemingly contradictory but essential elements of family group conferences: empowerment of the family and state or social control. The levels of the pyramid represent different decision-making processes; in child welfare, the pyramid reflects a continuum from state-imposed decisions to state-managed but family-regulated outcomes. The chapter also addresses the difficulties of shifting the role of the state from that of controller to that of regulatory partner when working with families in the child protective services system. The authors then discuss the threats to implementation of family group conferencing and variations of such in the U.S. Threats to implementation include concerns about cost, preparation time, staff training and debates about appropriate cases for family group conferencing. Finally, the chapter describes the use of family group conferencing in Hawaii (called Ohana Conferencing) and the elements that led to its successful implementation. Allan, G. (1996, October). The New Zealand family group conference -- A lawyer’s perspective. UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Building a Better Future for Colorado’s Children and Families Conference, Denver, CO. This paper emphasizes the importance of families in the family group conference process and rationale behind the legislative choices incorporated in New Zealand’s Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act of 1989. The author asserts family members are naturally better positioned to provide care and love to their children than are professionals. The author also describes the choices of the act to not include attorneys except for those appointed by the family court, in order to preserve the non-adversarial nature of the conference; keep meetings confidential so that families can tackle serious issues facing them; and make the process flexible to fit different cultures and families’ choices. Lastly, the paper describes the family group conference process and the professional’s role in that process. Built into the implementation of family group conferencing is a system of checks and balances to safeguard children’s best interests, in which social workers and judges can overturn the conference decisions even though the data show that this option rarely occurs. Angus, J. H. (1991). Perspectives on The Children, Young Persons and their Families Act 1989: The act: One year on. Social Work Review, 3(4), 5-6. In this article, the author describes the promising results of the implementation of family group conferencing in New Zealand one year after the enactment of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act of 1989. The author describes family group conferences as a formal process which brings together families, whanau (extended families) and other interested parties to make decisions about how to deal with issues of youth care, protection and offending. Despite the recognition that it is too early to come to any firm conclusions about the overall success of the act, the author notes that 5,000 conferences were held during the first year of implementation. Ball, C. (1996). The Children Act 1989 -- Creating a framework for partnership work with families. In K. Morris & J. Tunnard (Eds.), Family group conferences: Messages from UK practice and research (pp. 5-12). London: Family Rights Group. This article explains the U.K.’s Children Act of 1989, what led up to the act and what practice looks like after the act was put into effect. The author states that this is the most inclusive child welfare law to date in the U.K. According to the article, problems that existed before this legislation included poor crisis intervention mechanisms, confrontational techniques, inappropriate placements and a lack of effective legal systems. The article goes on to explain that the act came out of a public outcry in 1987 regarding a large increase in child abuse and neglect cases. The Children Act of 1989 emphasized voluntary services, local services, partnerships with parents and making emergency actions take place in a shorter time period. The author concludes the article by stating that the changes that took place due to the Children Act of 1989 allow for children to remain with their own families whenever possible and provide a supportive environment for families to receive services.