3.3 Family Networks and Family Group Decision Making

1. Family Networks and Family Group Decision Making

The Children’s Social Care National Framework and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 both highlight the expectation for family networks to be engaged and empowered from an early point in a referral. The voices of family networks should be prioritised through the use of family group decision making, wherever possible, and children’s services should consider offering these from the earliest point and throughout a referral.

A family network is defined in Working Together to Safeguard Children as a group of people close to a child made up of relatives and nonrelated connected people (where connected people has the same definition used in the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 in addition to close family friends who have a connection with the child). A family network could include step-parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, godparents, or close family friends.

Working Together to Safeguard Children and Championing Kinship Care: National Kinship Care Strategy define family group decision making is an umbrella term for family-led decision-making fora, where a family network has all the resources, adequate preparation, relevant information, a safe and appropriate environment, and private family time to make a plan to response to concerns about a child’s safety or wellbeing. This includes offering practical support to parents, whilst prioritising the wellbeing of the child. These meetings help to ensure a family network is empowered throughout the decision-making process of a children’s social care referral.

At pre-proceedings stage, successful family group decision-making also includes having an independent coordinator. Family group decision-making can take different forms, including Family Group Conferences though the Department for Education does not prescribe a specific model.

Children’s Social Care National Framework Statutory Guidance on the Purpose, Principles for Practice and Expected Outcomes of Children’s Social Care Outcome 2 provides that ‘children and young people are supported by their family network’, and the Framework sets out the following:

Children’s social care supports children and young people by building relationships so that key people in the lives of children and young people, who form their family network, can help to provide safety, stability, and love. Involving family networks needs to happen at every stage, when children and young people are supported by children’s social care, including if they are going to, or have, entered care. When children are being raised by someone in their family network, this is referred to as kinship care.

See also Kinship Care Procedure.

Often there are wider family relationships and networks that exist and can provide much-needed help when families experience challenging problems. These relationships can be a source of practical support that allow parents and carers to increase their capacity to meet the needs of their children and young people.

In some situations, where it is not safe for children or young people to stay living with their parents, or they are on a journey to be reunified with their parents, kinship care can be the best option to keep children and young people connected to those they know and love. Kinship care can be any situation in which a child is being raised by a family member who is not their parent or a friend – it can be temporary or long-term. For other children and young people who are in or leaving care, family networks might be small or limited, and practitioners will offer support to strengthen safe connections and establish lifelong loving relationships.

Family networks can help parents and carers to address their own needs, and offer stability for children and young people, but they might need the help of practitioners to make this happen. Children’s social care needs to consider how to unlock family networks and identify kinship carers to be a source of support, whenever children and young people need help, protection, or care. This support can enable children and young people to remain living with parents and carers, and when this is not possible, allows them to grow up with lifelong loving relationships, even if it they are not living with their birth family.

Expectations for practice

Responding to the voices of children, young people, and families

• Every area seeks and hears the views of children, young people, families, and family networks, including kinship carers, to understand how to design services that support children and young people to stay living with, and connected to, those they know and love;
• Every area supports children and young people to work with practitioners to identify their family networks and to discuss the support, love and trust they feel with them;
• Every area seeks and hears the views of children and young people and uses them to inform decisions on how their family network can care for them;
• Every area incorporates the views of parents into plans to keep children safe through their family network. Family networks are encouraged to report how much support they receive.

How senior leaders should achieve this outcome in practice

• Leaders recognise that networks are integral to effective support and protection for children, young people, and families. Support is not limited to parents and carers, as services recognise that extended family can play an important role in helping to keep children and young people connected to their family network;
• Leaders should publish a local policy setting out the approach towards promoting and supporting the needs of children in kinship care in their area. This should include a named responsible manager for kinship care within the local authority who will oversee the policy;
• Leaders design services to include family networks from a family’s first interactions with services and empowers practitioners to work with networks at every stage of support for children, young people, and families. This includes how to support disabled children with the help of their family network;
• Leaders provide clear information and advice to families, which helps them to feel empowered to make decisions about how best to care for children and young people in their family networks, and to explore the option of kinship care when it is needed;
• Leaders use their funding flexibly so that when it is in the child’s best interests, members of the family network and kinship carers can access the right support, without needing to become foster carers;
• Leaders put in place meaningful and collaborative forums with children, young people and families, such as family group decision making. They prioritise formal and informal kinship care arrangements, where safe to do so, to avoid children and young people unnecessarily entering care;
• Leaders recognise the complex family dynamics that surround kinship care and they commission services that can provide support to kinship carers who are managing challenging family relationships;
• Leaders recognise that kinship carers may require additional support to look after children and young people when they cannot live with their birth parent. They will know and signpost to the support kinship carers and children in kinship care are eligible for, and they will consider what additional support may be required;

How practice supervisors should achieve this outcome in practice

• Practice supervisors recognise the importance of family networks and support practitioners to explore the key relationships around a family, and address and work through complex dynamics from the first interaction with services;
• Practice supervisors are aware of the local offer for kinship support and help practitioners and families to navigate the offer, providing access to the relevant information, advice and resources where needed;
• Practice supervisors encourage the use of shared fora to inform plans to meet children and young people’s needs, making use of tools such as family group decision making, to bring together information and resources for families at the right time;
• Practice supervisors recognise that some families may experience barriers to accessing support. Practice supervisors proactively support practitioners to challenge themselves on their assumptions, build relationships with whole families, and access learning opportunities to develop their skills and engage with empathy. This should include attending to the needs of disabled children, as well as to relationships that may not always be given attention in practice, such as the role of fathers;
• Practice supervisors champion the reunification of children from care to their families and family networks, where it is safe to do so, and promote practice that is focused on creating opportunities where reunification can be possible;
• Practice supervisors are aware of circumstances which mean that children and young people may not be able to be supported by their immediate family network, for example, where unaccompanied asylum-seeking children may not have a family network in the country, or children have experienced harm as a result of their wider network or community. Practice supervisors help practitioners think creatively about how to provide the right kind of support for these children that develops a strong network of relationships in their lives.

How practitioners should achieve this outcome in practice

• Practitioners identify existing support networks with children, young people, and families from their first interactions with children’s social care, seeking to understand who they define as their family, and who is important in their lives. This might include non-familial relationships, such as lifelong friends, youth workers, teachers and members of their local community or faith-based organisations;
• Practitioners value the insight of family members and support networks, seek out their views and take appropriate action to respond to any concerns they might raise about the support and care that is provided to children and young people;
• Practitioners are mindful of how family dynamics can change. They remain alert to new information that would improve their understanding of the relationships within the family network and take action when children and young people need protection, or their needs are not being met;
• Practitioners understand that family members do not operate in isolation and recognise that family networks come in many forms. They are confident to identify complex dynamics, and work sensitively and constructively to help families build, strengthen, repair, or manage relationships. They help to manage family time between children, young people, parents, carers, and family members;
• Practitioners are alert to working in partnership with family members and support networks that might ordinarily be overlooked as important sources of care and support, challenging their own views about the type of support available. They consider how family networks can provide support to disabled children and to young carers;
• Practitioners take steps to build and strengthen family networks where they are weak and help them to build support systems where they do not yet exist. Where practitioners support children in care they consider every possible option for safe reunification;
• Practitioners work with family networks and kinship carers to help them access information, advice and training, alongside financial and peer support that equips them to meet the needs of their children and young people, and provide them with a loving, safe and stable home.
• Practitioners bring the family network together to explore safe and loving family-led options for the child’s care before the local authority issues care proceedings, wherever it is safe and possible to do so. Practitioners bring families together in family-led forums, that have been thoughtfully and carefully prepared. These fora should allow families time and resource to respond to concerns about a child’s safety or wellbeing. Practitioners may use approaches such as family group decision making in delivering these fora;
• Practitioners conduct assessments of prospective kinship carers so that they can provide a safe and stable home for their kin, and they help them to access the support they need to provide short term or long-term care;
• Practitioners are mindful of circumstances where a child or young person is not able to be supported by their immediate family network, for example where it is unsafe to maintain relationships, or a child or young person’s family and network are in another country, such as for unaccompanied asylum-seeking. Practitioners think creatively, and act decisively, to support children and young people to develop a strong, caring network of relationships in their lives.

2. Preparing for Family Networks Meetings

(Social) Worker to facilitate the family identifying their support network using conversations with the family and use of tools to help to do this

The first step of safety planning and the development of the Family Network Meeting is to identify the network. Sometimes, families will tell us they have no one. There are a number of tools we can use to help the family identify their support network. The professional network should work with the family on this, and whilst there is no set number for a safe network, the specifics of the family situation will guide you to know what a safe number might be. Be clear that without a network, safety cannot be created or maintained.

Organise a family meeting to bring the network together

Bringing the network together for the first time can be challenging. Although this can be time consuming the benefits of holding a Family Network Meeting will enable you to ensure everyone involved is committed to co-creating and supporting a Safety Plan.

It is suggested that this is coordinated early in the process of supporting families.

The initial Family Network Meeting will likely take up to 90 minutes to complete. We need to work with families to ensure they fully understand the need for their commitment and ongoing role in the planning process.

3. The Family Network Meeting

Use the SOS Mapping Assessment Tool to be clear about our worries and goals, and begin to think about plans to involve the network to create/support safety. Draft Danger/Worry Statements and Safety/Success Goals

Together, with the family and network, go through the SOS Mapping Assessment tool – you may have already completed this as part of your assessments, so make sure you do not duplicate the process. Just make sure you talk about the main worries and critical issues. Ask as many questions as possible and explore the things that we would see if things were going well, as well as the times we would be worried, as this will help us and the network to identify risks to maintaining safety. Think of lots of relationships questions, as this will help with understanding different perspectives, and therefore help to clearly define the safety steps needed.

The involvement of the network allows you to be clear with everyone what the main worries are, and give opportunity for the network to share their main worries too.

If you already have draft danger statements and safety goals, use these. If not, work together to pull these together using main worries.

Discuss who can do what to help (e.g. phone calls, visits, monitoring, contact, supervision, transport, respite), whatever this may be

Once you have identified draft goals, think about who will help to meet and achieve them. As the professional, you will work on the same goals within the formal processes (i.e. child protection, child in need, Early Help Assessments and care planning) so do not think about courses or actions that organisations might help with. We are looking for roles the network can play. This will help to form your draft Safety Plan. This needs to be a dynamic and creative conversation so that the network can come up with their own ideas. This is not us asking them to do things. Instead this is the network offering the best ideas to ensure they can show how the children will be safe and looked after no matter how difficult the situation may get in the future. Use the Family Safety Plan tool to record this.

Ask the family and network to begin to practice things they think will help, as well as monitor this by noting when things have worked (text each other, use a diary or journal etc.) so when we come to review the plan, changes can be made to the plan to reflect what actually works best.

Contingencies – What is the Backup Plan?

Ask the family what contingencies they have (e.g. what if grandma is on holiday, who will check in? What if the neighbour can't get back from work, who will pick up the children if mum can't get out of bed one day?). Be realistic about what contingencies the network can think of, your role is to pose the questions and facilitate their plan.

Review Family Network Meeting

This should take place within 4 weeks of the initial Family Network Meeting. The purpose of the Review Family Network Meeting is to check out the network's commitment to the plan and understanding of the seriousness of the worries held.

4. Drafting and ‘Doing’

Work on drafting the plan with the network and practice what has been agreed in the plan

Outside of the Family Network Meeting, the draft Safety Plan needs to be pulled together. This needs to clearly state who is going to do what when harm/main worries happen, based on what was agreed in the meeting.

First agree the “adult” version of the plan. This will be detailed and will consider contingencies for the family and the network. Make sure this is shared with the family and talk through what they have been practising so far (during visits and calls).

The plan needs to be shared with the network.

5. Reviewing and the ‘Doing’

Review the family network meeting. Firm up the plan

The building of the Safety Plan is progressive and should involve regular meetings to review. This is about support to the family and network, as well as monitoring and reflections. There needs to be evidence of what work is happening and how this is keeping children safe.

Hold your first review Family Network Meeting. As the Safety Plan shows you the network and family are working, you will gradually hand over the facilitation to one of a member network who has demonstrated they have a good understanding of the risk and are going to monitor and support the progression of the Safety Plan.

Go through the Safety Plan and review what you are all worried about and what is working well since you last met. Much consideration must be given by you and the network to how the draft Safety Plan has shown it is working and if it needs tweaking. Make sure the network consider what can be done differently to help make it firmer. Remember – you are the facilitator, this plan belongs to the network.

You need to ensure that the following points are addressed as part of the review:

• What can the network tell you they have done or will do if they come across problems?
• How has this been managed so far?
• How do you know this is working?

The network must feedback on how they are monitoring and reviewing the Safety Plan and provide evidence. The family network must be able to evidence through their diaries, journals, texts or call logs. Make sure this is robust evidence.

Agree the Safety Plan that the Family Network will follow

Agree the draft plan, but continue to test it. Create opportunities to test, such as network supervising contacts, overnight stays back at the family, opportunities for the network to “step in”. While it is important that we make sure risk of harm is absolutely minimised, it is important that we are not risk adverse. Without testing the plan, we will not build the confidence in the plan working when we are not around.

When the plan has been agreed, we need to transfer the key messages into a Words and Pictures Safety Plan that will be shared by the network and lead worker with the children. This is so they know what will happen when they might feel worried about something.

Remember, a full Words and Pictures Explanation should have been co-created with the parent(s) and shared with the network and children to make sure the children understand why professionals are involved. This should be done before a Words and Pictures Safety Plan is shared with them.

Review Family Network Meeting

Continue to hold Review Family Network Meetings until you are satisfied that the formal review can be transferred to a network member and for the formal withdrawal of support. It is better to have individuals from a naturally occurring network supporting the family to keep the children safe and dealing with the worries without resulting to contacting professionals to resolve issues. If the plan is tested over time, and monitored well, professionals can be confident that the plan works and professionals can withdraw.

Review Family Network Meetings can be part of your regular visiting pattern (if organised effectively) or in addition to. These can be part of your statutory review meetings, or in addition to. Make sure you coordinate these so you are making best use of your time and that of the family. Remember, this is part of the overall closure/safety building trajectory and roadmap for success in our day to day good practice.

6. Further Information

Legislation, Statutory and Government Non-Statutory Guidance

Working Together to Safeguard Children

Children’s Social Care National Framework: Statutory Guidance on the Purpose, Principles for Practice and Expected Outcomes of Children’s Social Care

Championing Kinship Care: National Kinship Care Strategy