Dauphin County Children and Youth
Family Group Decision Making/Family Group Conferencing

Program Description:
Dauphin County Children and Youth, Juvenile Probation, Drug and Alcohol and Mental Health/Mental Retardation agencies have partnered together with representatives from Dauphin County families, the faith-based community, schools and provider agencies to implement the practice of Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) in the county. FGDM describes a practice which recognizes the role and long tradition that families have in understanding and caretaking of their members; inviting them to come together to make short and long-term decisions within their own families. Family Group Conferencing (FGC) is a practice that can be utilized at any point in the continuum of services for children and families. Specific programs and strategies to address truancy can be determined through the FGC planning process. Utilizing extended family members and community resources widens the circle of support to the identified youth, siblings and other affected members of the family.

The implementation team for this initiative consists of representatives from cross-systems and the community and faith based organizations. The team meets once a month and functions as a subcommittee under Dauphin County’s System of Care Initiative. During the monthly meetings, issues surrounding policies, procedures and practices are discussed and implemented as deemed appropriate by the team and under the supervision of the county FGC Liaison.

A local private provider is contracted for the coordination/facilitation of the family group conferences. Referrals are accepted from the four county agencies represented; however, the bulk of referrals come from Children and Youth and Juvenile Probation. The vision for the future is to be able to accept referrals through other entities, such as schools and churches.

In addition, in 2005, the county Children and Youth agency hired an in-house emergency FGC coordinator to take referrals in need of quick response. These conferences occur within one to five days of the referral and typically address issues directly related to safety. Since the first Dauphin County Family Group Conference occurred in March 2002, there have been over 500 conferences.

Dauphin County Children and Youth has a school-based unit of service, which consists of a school-based casework Supervisor and four school-based Caseworkers. This special unit specifically focuses on truancy and other school-related issues, and uses FGC as a planning tool for the families referred. Criteria are being created to facilitate FGC referrals that come directly from school personnel where school-based workers do not exist, so that truancy issues can be addressed early – before they rise to the level which necessitates a referral through Children and Youth. Through the Systems of Care grant and an FGC Expansion grant received by Dauphin County in 2006 through OJJDP, hundreds of interested persons across Pennsylvania were provided with training on FGDM.

Contact Information:
Jamie Rhinehart, Family Group Decision Making Program Specialist
Dauphin County Children and Youth
25 South Front Street
Harrisburg, PA 17101