Family Group Decision Making

Criteria For Service

The criteria for referrals to the Family Group Decision Making process are simply that the referring worker has hope for the family and is willing and able to support a plan developed by the family as long as the plan is safe, legal and possible. Candidates for FGDM must have biological, foster/adoptive, kinship, and/or community support members who are willing and able to participate in planning for services for the identified client or family. Family participants must be willing to engage in the process; FGDM is not effectively forced onto families. The process has been found to be effective for keeping children and their families safe in their homes, returning children safely from foster care, identifying best placements options for children, stabilizing placements (foster care or others) and assisting youth in transitioning out of agency care. FGDM may not be appropriate for family situations that involve known sexual abuse or domestic violence.