Outcomes of family centered meetings for families referred to Child Protective Services

In order to address the number of children entering the foster care system each year and to promote the family's participation in the decision-making process, family-centered meetings have been widely adopted throughout the United States as well as in other countries. Since 1989, Family Group Conferencing, Family Group Decision Making, and Family Team Meetings have all been introduced into public child welfare systems. This paper will refer to all three approaches as family-centered meetings. However, little empirical research has been done to test the impact of these meetings on families referred to Child Protective Services (CPS). This paper examines literature on the impact of family-centered meetings with families referred to CPS on child and family functioning outcomes. The results suggest that more research is needed to examine fidelity models and specific types of interventions being implemented. However, all of these three appear to increase kinship care placements. More research is needed, specifically regarding the contexts where family-centered interventions could be appropriate. Implications for practice are also discussed, with special consideration of integrating family-centered interventions with other interventions to promote both family participation and child safety.