Family Group Decision Making - Making a Difference in Disproportionality

This may appear to be a dry subject matter but it is well worth reading. I have worked for a government child welfare agency for over two decades; one could say that I grew up in the child welfare field. I began my journey of cultural awareness and self identity over five years ago. Fast forward to 2010 I now became involved in the agency’s  plan to reduce the percentage of the African American children who are in foster care at disproportionate rates, not just in my state but this phenomenon has been playing out throughout the country for years. The two most affected communities are Native Americans and African American children, with the Hispanic population fast approaching the mark. Historically the child welfare system was not designed to serve people of color therefore; the outcomes reflect a continuation of white cultural values which permeate institutions, policies, and programs. For over a year I have provided the planning committee information and perspectives of a white person on how best to move forward regarding changing the work environment.   However, there was something I could do then and there to assist programmatically. Because I am a unit manager of two in-home programs, I began facilitating change from the onset by modifying the FGDM practice to be more culturally responsive than orignally planned. I also implemented into the assessment process a section specifically exploring every family's right to self identify their race and/or culture.

One of the African American’s community legacies is family. Charles Waite writes, “The most enduring cultural strength that Black African brought with them from the African continent was the extended family and its strong kinship networks.” 

 Now for a moment a comparison of the Maori people of New Zealand will be made to the African and Native American communities here in the US. The Maori tribal people are rich in family tradition, culture, and history. Family Group Conferencing was developed by a group of social workers from New Zealand one whose name is Mike Doolan (above video) along with the Maori people, in response to the disproportionate number of Maori children placed in the foster care system in the early 1980‘s. The Maori people became vocal in their loss of their children’s cultural identity, values, beliefs, and traditions. Mr. Doolan and his colleagues believed that the Maori people knew their families best and could plan for their children’s future hence, Family Group Conferencing (Decision Making) was born. Mr. Doolan provided insight into the development of this practice as well as, the need to maintain fidelity to the model. In the simplest terms, FGDM is a meeting that is family driven, child centered and culturally sensitive. The family agrees to a meeting and assists in developing the actual purpose of the meeting, invitation list, and meal planning. The family is not restricted  and are encouraged to invite family and  whom ever the family considers as a resource, can be invited such as the pastor of their church, baseball coach or a close neighbor. This concept is known as “widening the circle” of supports. Strength, and concerns for the family are presented at the meeting and then the family adjourns into what is referred to as “family private time. A meal is shared and the family develops a plan for the child which addresses the agency’s concerns.

The FGDM practice began to leave out the family's cultural traditions from the actual meeting. In addition I thought from the very first meeting with the family, cultural issues should be explored rather than glossed over. My strategies continue to be implemented and modified as needed, to ensure that the family is operating based upon their cultural family belief system. The cultural factors should not be secondary considerations but rather primary in order to facilitate the change needed. We still have a ways to go because to my mind, this is not a one shot deal!

Currently, I am exploring the potential in integrating an Afro centric intergenerational model with the FGDM practice. I am anticipating the introduction of a new and improved FGDM model to community chuches and faith based organizations by the end of 2013. Stay tuned!