Report shows family group decision making is "untapped opportunity" to keep Promise

Scotland can speed up progress to keep its promise to care-experienced children by addressing the unequal provision of “family group decision making” according to authors of a new report from Children First, Scotland’s national children’s charity.

Family Group Decision Making in Scotland found that while a majority of professionals who offer these services (60%) identified improving outcomes for children, including keeping children out of care, as a key strength, a third of local authorities have no family group decision making provision. Where services are in place provision is patchy, with an average of only two family group decision making coordinator posts per local authority.

Children First’s research included an online survey of children’s services professionals across Scotland, a review of how family group decision making fits with Scottish law and policy and learning from other countries about the impact of the approach. The research identifies a strong commitment from a range of professionals to family group decision making but says the impact for children is limited by an unclear legislative and policy framework and a lack of sustainable funding.

Earlier this year, the Promise Oversight Board warned that the Scottish Government’s ambition to make sure care-experienced children and young people grow up loved, safe and respected by 2030 is at risk of being missed. At the time, the Oversight Board called for family group decision making to be consistently available across the country, saying: "there is a need to ensure it is available to everyone who would benefit from it wherever they live in Scotland, and that it is sustainably funded."

Linda Jardine, Director of Children and Families said:

“If, for any reason, you were unable to care for your own children, you would want them to have the opportunity to be cared for safely by loving members of your wider family or a close friend. Yet too many children in Scotland are still going into care without that chance being fully explored through family group decision making.

“Our research shows there is a clear place for family group decision making within Scotland’s care and protection system and a strong commitment from a range of professionals to helping children and families benefit from it. But weaknesses in legislation, policy and funding arrangements create barriers which stop children that need family group decision making from accessing it. With the clock ticking closer to 2030 it’s time to seize this untapped opportunity to make faster progress towards keeping the Promise.

“The forthcoming Promise Bill is a key vehicle for the Scottish Government to clarify the place of family group decision making in legislation by ensuring it is consistently offered before compulsory interventions, such as children’s hearings.”

The research was supported by Promise Partnership Funding from the Keep the Promise Fund. It makes four recommendations to ensure that every child in Scotland who could benefit from family group decision making can access it:

•  FGDM, in line with the National Standards, needs a clear and certain place in legislation and policy, so children facing life changing decisions have the best opportunity to ensure their families and communities are involved.
• Steps should be taken to address the fact that one third of local authorities in Scotland do not offer FGDM, based on existing policy and legislation.
• Opportunities to build on the existing work in areas where FGDM is already offered should be explored simultaneously, to support effective implementation.
• A sustainable funding model or central fund for FGDM in Scotland should be put in place to support implementation of the recommendations above.

Read the full report Family Group Decision Making in Scotland