Balancing the scale of responsibility The effectiveness of family group conferencing in child welfare

Since 2000, the focus of child welfare has shifted from a problem-focused approach to a strength-based approach. Using a strength-based approach, the focus is on empowering families in their own ecological system by focusing on strengths and stimulating active responsibility of families and their social network. One method, that has been developed to empower families by using their social network in the child welfare system, is the decision-making model of Family Group Conferencing (FGC). Although the implementation of the decision-making model of FGC in child welfare is widespread, the evidence is still limited. Therefore, the main goal of this dissertation was to contribute to the scientific knowledge on the effectiveness of FGC in child welfare. First, the overall effects of FGC (including all different types of FGC) were examined by conducting a meta-analysis (Chapter 2), using empirical literature on the effects of FGC nationally and internationally. Second, a randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the effectiveness of the Dutch version of FGC in child welfare, named “Eigen Kracht Conferenties”. This research project resulted in a study protocol (Chapter 3) and three separate studies. In the first study (Chapter 4), the focus was on the implementation of FGC in child welfare. The second study (Chapter 5) contained the overall effects of FGC in child welfare, including moderator analyses and the relation between FGC completion and effectiveness. In the last study (Chapter 6), the cost-effectiveness of FGC was examined.