This article explores participation as underlined in the new Norwegian Child Welfare Act on child welfare institutions (CWI). Future-oriented research on Child Welfare Services can provide important clues on how to practise what is in the young person’s best interest. The narrative thematic analysis is based on the stories of three young women aged 17–26 with different backgrounds and experiences from Norwegian CWIs. An analysis focusing on a possible, plausible and preferable future in CWIs offers a vision of how to develop more sustainable care. The narratives revealed challenges and possibilities connected to participation. By adopting a future-focused perspective in social work, we can explore the impact of the past on current practices and envision future possibilities based on present knowledge.
Mira Aurora Marlow, Rita Sørly, Heli Kyllikki Kaatrakoski
Abstract Child protection conferences are central to decision-making within child welfare systems. Following the expansion of online working during the pandemic, many English local authorities have adopted hybrid conferences, combining in-person and online participation. However, little is known about how these arrangements shape participation and decision-making. This article reports first-stage findings from a national study of hybrid conferences. It examines how they are organized and practitioners’ views on their implications for participation and multi-agency deliberation. Data derive from nine regional workshops with children’s social care professionals (n = 301) and an associated questionnaire (n = 375), with responses received from 95 percent of English local authorities. The analysis identifies a six-type typology of conference configurations currently in use, spanning a continuum from fully in-person to fully online formats. In addition to mapping national practice, this article makes a conceptual contribution to understanding professional judgement in child protection by showing how different conference configurations create distinct relational conditions that shape interaction and decision-making. While hybrid conferences may widen access and improve attendance, some, particularly those where parents attend online, introduce relational risks that may influence decision-making dynamics. Hybrid conferences should therefore be treated as adaptable tools requiring explicit consideration of their relational and decision-making effects.
In the Portuguese judicial system, the justice spaces were designed by adults and structured for adults, and they embrace both relational dimension and power exercise –privacy is publicized, competencies are monitored, and weaknesses are scrutinized. Research, implemented thru a multiple case study, aimed to assessment children’s participation rights exercise in those same spaces. It is confirmed that childhood and children’s conceptualizations have repercussions on praxis, since there is an image that associates them with lack of capacity, mirrored in and by their minority. Therefore, perpetuating children and childhood's exclusion moments, witnessing prejudice reproduction and an endemic culture of non-participation. Thus, child's contemporaneity must be valued, both for its presence in the breadth of human life and for the valid, and valuable contribution it makes to the composition of its living worlds.
Introduction: Participation is an important dimension of healthy child development and is associated with higher self-rated health, educational attainment and civic engagement. Many children with special healthcare needs (SHCN) experience limited participation and are thus at risk for adverse health and developmental outcomes. Despite this, interventions that promote participation in healthcare are scarce. We therefore evaluate the effectiveness of a complex age- and condition-generic intervention that strengthens participation-centred care involving parents and their children with SHCN by, inter alia, assessing preferences, specifying participation goals and facilitating shared decision-making in care. Methods and analysis: In this study protocol we describe the design and procedures for an unblinded, stepped wedge, cluster randomised trial conducted in 15 German interdisciplinary healthcare facilities providing services for children aged 0–18 years with SHCN. Sites are randomised to five periods in which they switch from control to intervention condition in blocks of three. The intervention includes: (1) team training focused on participation-centred care, (2) introduction of a new software facilitating participation-focused documentation and (3) implementation support promoting the transfer of training content into routine care. Study sites deliver routine care while in the control condition. As primary outcome, the degree of perceived shared decision-making with parents (CollaboRATEpediatric parent scale), a potential antecedent of achieving participation goals in everyday life, is assessed on one randomly selected day per week during the entire study period, directly following care appointments. We aim to sample 70 parents per study site and period. Additionally, participation of children is assessed within a closed embedded cohort with three parent and patient surveys. Intervention effectiveness will be modelled with a marginal model for correlated binary outcomes using generalised estimation equations and complete cases. A comprehensive mixed-methods process evaluation complements the effectiveness analyses.
Michael Eichinger, Tatiana Görig, Sabine Georg et al.
BACKGROUND: Many countries around the world lack data on the epidemiology of agency response to child maltreatment. They therefore lack information on how many children in need get help and protection or if children stand equal chances across regions to get services. However, it has proven difficult to commit child protection agencies to participation in incidence studies. METHODS: The Optimus Study invested in a continuous collaborative effort between research and practice to develop a data collection for the first national study on the incidence of agency responses to all forms of child maltreatment in Switzerland. An innovative approach of utilizing individual agencies' standardized data reduced work burden for participation respectably: any arbitrary excerpt of data on new cases between September 1 and November 30, 2016, could be uploaded to a secured web-based data integration platform. It was then mapped automatically to fit the study's definitions and operationalizations. RESULTS: This strategy has led to a largely successful participation rate of 76% of agencies in the nationwide sample. 253 agencies from the social and health sector, public child protection, and the penal sector have provided data. CONCLUSIONS: Valuing agencies context-specific knowledge and expertise instead of viewing them as mere providers of data is a precondition for representativeness of incidence data on agency responses to child maltreatment. Potential investigators of future similar studies might benefit from the lessons learned of the presented project.
Andreas Jud, Céline Kosirnik, Tanja Mitrović et al.
The family environment in Romania is one of the most abusive for children, 87.7% of reported cases of abuse are in the family.Moreover, the main methods of discipline used by parents are raising their voices, threats and physical punishment.In order to respond to such problems, HoltIS Association with the support of the UNICEF Representative in Romania developed a parenting education programme to support the development of skills for parents from the vulnerable and disadvantaged categories.(1) Background: The present study aims to investigate how parents' participation in parenting education courses contributes to changing parents' behaviour towards children and reducing child abuse.(2) Methods: The study is a qualitative one, using the focus group and individual interview for data collection.From the 85 schools where such parenting programmes were organized, 6 schools were selected, whose parents, parent educators and representatives participated in the focus groups and individual interviews; (3) Results: Parents' participation in parenting education courses contributes to developing self-control, to change the behaviours into positive ones towards their own children, to spending quality time with their own children; at the same time, parents' participation has positive effects in terms of reducing school dropout, improving children's school results, reducing absenteeism and changing children's behaviour towards school and towards their peers.In addition, the organization of parenting courses by trained teaching staff has beneficial effects on school culture; (4) Conclusions: Parenting programmes are one of the most effective forms of preventing child abuse, the family being the most abusive environment for children.The data collected from parents and teaching staff emphasize the transformations of behaviour at the level of all three actors: child, parent and teachers, with effects on the reduction of child abuse.
BACKGROUND: There is a need for an instrument to measure participation and independence in children with disabilities. FUNDES-Child-SE has its origin in the participation questionnaire Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation. AIMS: Test the psychometric properties of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included caregivers of 163 children with disability aged 6-18 years, 59 of whom were also included in the test-retest study. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the proportions of valid ratings. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were tested through Cronbach's alpha and the intra-class correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The amount of not relevant/not applicable ratings was substantial but varied between items and subdomains. Internal consistency was acceptable (0.8-0.95), and the test-retest was marginal to excellent (0.73-0.95). CONCLUSIONS: The reliability together with the content validity support the use of the FUNDES-Child-SE to measure participation and independence in children with disabilities. However, results should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size and possible selection bias. Modifications to reduce the not relevant/not applicable responses should be investigated together with the instrument's responsiveness. SIGNIFICANCE: FUNDES-Child-SE can be used to facilitate a discussion of participation and independence and to plan interventions in a habilitation setting.
Jennifer Gothilander, Anna Ullenhag, Henrik Danielsson et al.
BACKGROUND: FUNDES-Child-SE is a proxy rating questionnaire for measuring participation and independence in children with disabilities in a Swedish context. It includes the components of frequency of attendance, engagement and independence. The original, Taiwanese FUNDES-Child 7.0, has previously been found to have a four-factor structure for frequency of participation and a two-factor structure for independence. The aim of this study was to test the factor structure in FUNDES-Child-SE. The factor structure is an important part of construct validity. METHODS: Caregivers of 163 children with disabilities aged 6-18 years participated in this cross-sectional study. Exploratory factor analysis was used to find the factor structure for Engagement. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the factor structure for all three components. RESULTS: The proposed factor structure for frequency of participation (daily living participation frequency, mobility participation frequency, learning participation frequency and community participation frequency) and independence (daily living independence and social participation independence) fit with data from FUNDES-Child-SE after excluding three to five items and adding two to five covariances of residuals. In the engagement component, two factors, named engagement in informal activities and engagement in formal activities, were found. After excluding one item and adding 10 covariances of residuals, the factor structure had an acceptable fit to data. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in components' factor structure indicate that attendance and engagement are separate aspects of participation. Before using numeric scores from FUNDES-Child-SE in clinical settings, responsiveness and interpretability should be evaluated.
Jennifer Gothilander, Anna Karin Axelsson, Henrik Danielsson et al.
BACKGROUND: Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a widespread global problem with societal, legal, and scientific implications. In Portugal, despite increasing reporting rates, empirical knowledge about CSA characteristics and children's involvement in criminal proceedings remains limited. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to characterize CSA cases in Portugal, describe children's involvement in the criminal justice system, and examine predictors of abuse patterns and legal outcomes. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The sample comprised 319 criminal case files related to CSA, filed between 2014 and 2022, drawn from five courts across Portugal. METHODS: A quantitative retrospective design was used. Data were extracted from case files and analyzed using descriptive statistics and Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) to examine predictors of abuse characteristics and legal outcomes. RESULTS: CSA cases were predominantly characterized by female victims and male perpetrators known to the child. Intrafamilial cases were more likely to involve younger victims, contact forms, repeated episodes, and co-occurring victimization. Victim age and the victim-perpetrator relationship emerged as key predictors of abuse patterns. Children were involved in multiple procedural acts (M = 3.10). Regarding legal outcomes, procedural factors, particularly the absence of Statements for Future Use, were associated with a lower likelihood of conviction. Overall, delays in procedures and repeated testimonies highlight potential risks of secondary victimization. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the complexity of CSA cases in Portugal and the central role of child testimony in legal outcomes. Strengthening trauma-informed, child-sensitive justice practices, ensuring timely evidence collection, and reducing procedural delays may improve justice responses and minimize revictimization.
Delfina Fernandes, João P. Gomes, Pedro B. Albuquerque et al.
This article discusses a key meeting for children in care – the Child in Care Review – and examines the extent to which children and young people are able to participate and exert a level of control over their lives. The research, conducted in England, formed part of a wider exploration of the views and experiences of all those involved in such reviews, namely Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs), social workers, senior managers and – the focus of this article – the young people concerned. Most of the children interviewed said that they found their reviews frustrating and stressful, often attributing this to poor relationships with social workers and scepticism about the value of the review process. However, they recognised the workload pressures facing social workers and the bureaucratic constraints affecting the service they received. The article argues for the continuing importance of the IRO role, given the consistency it provides for children in care. It also shows that while it provides an opportunity for children’s participation in discussions about their future, the Child in Care Review is underperforming. The developing practice of children chairing their own reviews offers one way forward and the article calls for this to be developed and for other creative methods to be introduced to enable young people to play a meaningful part in meetings that affect them.
