Center for Dispute Resolution

www.MissouriState.edu/CDR * CDR@MissouriState.edu * (417) 836-8831

Dr. Char Berquist (left) advises the training group during a role play session.

Family Group Decision-Making Training Offered to Child Welfare Professionals in Branson

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Dr. Char Berquist (left) advises the training group during a role play session.
Dr. Char Berquist (left) advises the training group during a role play session.

In May the CDR was pleased to provide a customized training in Family Group Decision-Making (also known as Family Group Conferencing) for child welfare professionals in Missouri.

This training, offered in Branson, MO, was sponsored by the Healthy Families Taskforce. Attendees included Children’s Division staff, Juvenile Officers, Guardian Ad Litems, CASA staff, and judges, mainly from Stone and Taney counties.

Family Group Decision-Making (FGDM) brings a family together with their relatives, friends, and other supportive people in their lives to take part in a family group conference so they can develop a plan to support an individual who is struggling and/or ensure the well-being of the children involved. Family group decision-making helps develop and strengthen a family’s support network, significantly benefiting the children and their family groups while putting the family at the center of decision-making as they create plans that fit their unique circumstances.

The CDR offers FGDM programming in Greene County and is the largest provider of family group decision-making/family group conferencing training in Missouri. It regularly customizes these trainings to meet the needs of individual groups or organizations and also assists with program design and development. For more information on these services, or to learn how to bring FGDM training to your group, please contact the CDR.