Peer-reviewed article
Current challenges of family and child participation in child prevention and protection services Proposal of a practical-theoretical framework
Carl Lacharité, Paola Milani ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This article presents a framework for participatory approaches in child protection services, developed within Italy's P.I.P.P.I. program. The framework emphasizes placing children, families, and communities at the center of prevention and protection work, viewing the child within their relationships and social context. The article aims to bridge the gap between theoretical intentions and actual participatory practices in Italian social services.
Key points
- The Framework for Participatory Approach in Child Protection Services was developed by Lacharité et al. (2022) and adopted by Italy's P.I.P.P.I. program
- The approach centers on the right to participation of children, parents, and communities
- Uses an ecosystemic and multidimensional paradigm that considers the child's wholeness and potential for emancipation
- The P.I.P.P.I. program has been implemented in Italian social services since 2011
- The article addresses the gap between participatory intentions and actual practices in child protection services
Limitations
This is a conceptual article presenting a framework rather than empirical research findings. It does not provide evidence of outcomes or effectiveness of participatory approaches in practice.
Abstract
This article is dedicated to the description of the “Framework for a Participatory Approach in Child Protection Services” (Lacharité et al., 2022), as contextualized within the Program of Intervention For the Prevention of Institutionalization – P.I.P.P.I., conceived by the Laboratory of Research and Intervention in Family Education – LabRIEF – of the University of Padua, made its own by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy since 2011. The implementation of P.I.P.P.I. is indeed inscribed in this participatory perspective, and it finds its figure in putting at the centre the right to participation not only of children, but also of their parental figures and the communities in which they live. By this is meant the consideration of the child in his or her world of ties and relationships, in an ecosystemic and multidimensional paradigm that looks at the wholeness of the human person and his or her potential for emancipation. The presentation to the Italian audience of this Framework, considered in the context of recent national and international literature, is aimed at helping to overcome the gap between intentions, theoretical representations and participatory practices, and to highlight its potential and limitations, in the context of P.I.P.P.I. implementation in Italian social services.