Chronic child abuse and domestic violence: children and families with long‐term and complex needs

It is estimated that up to one million children may have been exposed to domestic violence in the UK, with significant consequences for their social and emotional development in childhood and later life. At a time when the central and devolved administrations in the UK have developed strategies to tackle domestic violence, this paper reports the findings from a study conducted on children in the child protection system with long‐term and complex needs as a result of experiencing domestic violence. The research identifies the characteristics of the children and their families and tracks their careers through the child protection system. The findings indicate that professionals have an awareness of domestic violence, and that younger children with younger parents are most likely to experience prolonged periods in the child protection system. Domestic violence in this context typically co‐exists in families experiencing other difficulties such as substance misuse and socio‐economic deprivation. In conclusion, the paper argues that Government policy and professional practice should primarily be concerned with assessing the risk that men present, rather than the risk that children are at. By reframing professional interventions, men are more likely to be challenged to accept responsibility for their behaviour and the consequences for their families.     

Family support services buffer the effect of child welfare notifications on child removals

Previous studies have found mixed results about the effects of family support services within the child protection system. The purpose of the study is to examine whether family support services are associated with the need for child removals at the community level. The material of the study consists of Finnish municipalities (N = 292) and their child protection indicators. Linear regression analysis was conducted to analyse the associations between the dependent variable (child removals) and the main predictors (child welfare notifications and family support services). It was found that family support services are associated with child removals. The more children there are in family support services, the more there are also child removals in a municipality. The key finding of the analysis is that a higher rather than lower proportion of clients in family support services buffers the increased effect of demand (child welfare notifications) on child removals better. In this sense, the demand for child removals is not only associated with the characteristics of children and families but may be partly explained by the role of family support services in a municipality. The present study underlines the significance of a system-level approach to child protection.     

Family support as a working style in child protection in Italy: A comparative study on social workers' child welfare attitudes

Comparative studies on child protection decision-making highlight the implications and determinants of differences in child welfare systems internationally and reinforce discussions regarding child protection practices and family support when a child is exposed to inadequate parental care. To date, Italian child protection studies have highlighted a system characterised by a strong degree of variability related to the absence of practices shared nationally. Differently, this comparative study focuses more on similarities within the Italian context, seeking to understand how they influence practices. The opinions of 188 Italian social workers with respect to the substantiation of maltreatment, risk assessment and intervention recommendations were compared with the results of a recent study involving practitioners in Israel, Northern Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands. The main outcomes show that Italian social workers prefer a family support orientation, meaning that children are usually removed from their home only if necessary and generally with the aim of reunification with their families. The study also reveals that Italian professionals are more in favour of residential care than foster care.     

Chronic Child Abuse: The Characteristics and Careers of Children Caught in the Child Protection System

The introduction of the Quality Protects initiative in Englandand the focus on performance management has challenged socialservices departments to examine the systems, processes and outcomesfor children who have their name on a child protection register.Research indicates that approximately one-quarter of the situationsin which children are registered could be described as chronic—thatis, they remain on the child protection register for significantperiods of time, experience more than one period of registrationor suffer a further incident of significant harm whilst subjectto a child protection plan. In this article, the findings froma research study conducted into this group of vulnerable childrenare reported, focusing on the characteristics of the childrenand their families, and their careers in the child protectionsystem. The paper concludes with observations about the weakconceptualization of performance management and the need torecognize the complexity of the factors that influence children’scareers in the child protection system.     

Holes in the safety net: the strengths and weaknesses of child protection procedures

This paper uses findings from empirical research to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of the child protection procedures in the UK. Discontinuities in which child protection plans were not implemented arose because of limitations in the plans made, obstacles to implementation and weaknesses in the conduct of review meetings which rarely questioned the management of cases even when it was clearly deficient. The construction of risk made during the investigation carried over into the initial conference, fed into decisions about registration and had an enduring influence on the way in which later risks to children were interpreted. However, this meant that new information which challenged this view of risk was often ignored. Continuities were also evident between adequate plans for children's safety made at initial conferences and their subsequent protection. However, when children remained at home with an abusing parent, this remained true only when a new key worker had been allocated at the time of the conference. These initial plans also had an impact on the interventions provided, especially those for treatment. These findings emphasize the importance of adequate planning for children and families at initial child protection conferences and the need for an overhaul of the conduct of reviews if they are to be used more effectively.     

Black African Children and the Child Protection System

This paper explores black African children’s experiencesof the child protection system in the UK. The central focusof the paper is a review of the available literature on thesocial circumstances and environmental influences affectingmany black African families involved in the child protectionsystem; specific parenting practices and care-giving environments;and their experiences of social work and other professionalinterventions aimed at safeguarding and promoting the needsof African children. This paper examines these themes to elucidatethe factors that contribute to the provision of effective, culturallycompetent interventions with black African children at riskof significant harm. It suggests that there are a number oftensions inherent for professionals in working with culturallydiverse African families such as reconciling different beliefsand behaviours concerning child-rearing practices; affirmingthe parenting practices of these families in the engagementprocess; adopting a strengths-based orientation whilst at thesame time safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerablechildren. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implicationsfor practice.     

South Asian immigrants' experience of child protection services: are we recognizing strengths and resilience?

Ethno‐racial minority families who come in contact with child protection services face unique challenges that include different ideas about appropriate child rearing practices, possibly different definitions of child maltreatment, the possibility of racial biases and service provision that does not address their particular needs. Ethno‐racial minority immigrants encounter additional barriers to services associated with the challenges of settlement in a new cultural environment. Although considerable research has explored these issues, knowledge of the experiences of ethno‐racial families who have been in contact with child protection is limited. The current paper provides insights from a qualitative study that explored the experiences of one ethno‐racial group (South Asians) in Canada. Findings suggest a variety of reasons that families come into contact with the child protection system, and the characteristics of the sample highlight their difficult financial and employment circumstances. Themes include participants' desire to be better informed about the reasons for child protection involvement and about what they can expect from the worker and the agency. They also identified a wish for services that not only recognize their cultural diversity but also respond to the needs of the whole family. In‐home services were especially appreciated. The findings reveal the resilience and personal agency among participants that can be enhanced through strength‐based approaches to practice. Helping others, establishing community networks and developing needed services were avenues of resilience identified.     

The over-representation of Black children in the child protection system: possible causes, consequences and solutions

This paper considers the controversial area of child protection with Black families. It begins by addressing the question of why the issue of child protection and ethnicity is important to social work. It then goes on to consider the current and related research in this field, and supports the arguments that Black families are likely to be over-represented in the child protection system. The reasons for this over-representation are explored in-depth as themes: these include issues around language and interpreting services; child-rearing differences; poverty; and social work assessments. Racism and discrimination are central concepts that underpin each theme. The final section looks at ways forward for social workers and their agencies with regard to working sensitively and appropriately with Black families.     

Child Poverty in Northern Ireland: The Limits of Welfare-to-Work Policies

Levels of child poverty in Northern Ireland are high; 32 per cent of children live in households whose only income derives from benefits, compared with 19 per cent of children in Britain living in families totally dependent on benefits. Unemployment, low pay, a higher cost of living, low levels of public services, including childcare and support services for people with disabilities, slightly larger families and a lack of access by poorer women to the means of limiting their family size, together with even greater levels of inequality than in Britain, all contribute to the high levels of child poverty in Northern Ireland. This paper argues that even the less ambitious child poverty targets announced by the Department of Work and Pensions at the end of 2003 will not be met unless there is a fundamental change in the government's approach. In particular, evidence from Northern Ireland suggests that its insistence on work as the primary—if not only—route out of poverty will not lead to a radical reduction in levels of child poverty.     

Street children in Russia: steps to prevention

This article examines the historical evolution of the development of social policy toward street children in Russia and makes recommendations for prevention. The historical examination begins with the Soviet period, when statistics on social problems were not publicly known. It continues through the post-Soviet period when there was an emerging awareness about the increasing number of abused, abandoned children and children living on the streets. Etiological factors, such as child maltreatment and parental substance abuse, are then discussed. Based on these etiological factors, the article then proposes a model in which existing institutions and professionals are supported in facilitating an integrated system of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. This includes improving child protection services and interventions to prevent children leaving their homes, early identification of children who are becoming involved in street life and a continuum of care for children who cannot return home.     

Changing expectations: the impact of ‘child protection’ on Irish social work

In this paper, the author (who has worked as a social worker in both Ireland and the UK) contends that there has been an uncritical importation of expectations and responsibilities from the British system into Irish state social work. In the area of child and family social work this has been most marked by the introduction and construction of ‘child protection’ as the dominant discourse. Yet fundamental differences exist between Irish and British social policy, differences that are reflected in the structure, nature and culture of social work services. Some of the historical differences between the two welfare systems are explored and three core features of modern Irish social work with children and families are identified. Possibilities for recreating Irish social work in discourse and in practice are suggested, particularly around the notions of certainty/uncertainty and the potential for linguistically based frameworks for practice.     

Exploring approaches to child welfare in contexts of domestic violence and abuse: Family group conferences

This article sets out to explore service provision for families affected by domestic violence and abuse. For most families where there are child protection concerns, there are possibilities for intervention from child welfare agencies and domestic abuse services, but these have been criticised as having distinct and disconnected practice cultures and orientation. Recognising this divergence, in this paper, we advocate for safeguarding children affected by domestic violence and abuse using the family group conference (FGC) model. This offers possibilities for a coherent response that integrates both child‐ and women‐centred concerns in a holistic approach to family safety and well‐being. Furthermore, it is well documented that safeguarding work involves professionally‐led decision‐making that is pre‐occupied with the management of risk. FGCs, however, promote a partnership approach that engages families in a more democratic decision‐making process. As such, FGCs offer families the opportunity to develop their own safety and support plans for the protection and care of children recognising the family's inherent strengths.     

Collaborating with families in differential responses: practitioners' views

Child protection authorities in many countries are concerned with reducing the rates of investigations and with diverting at‐risk families from the child protection service system. In several countries, differential responses have been introduced into child protection law providing service providers with some choice between investigative or family support pathways, depending upon the level of risk posed in the circumstance. In this paper, we report on a study into a form of differential response known as Intervention with Parents' Agreement introduced in Queensland, Australia, in 2005. A unique feature of this differential response is that it occurs after an initial child protection investigation, although it does provide child protection services with options for providing supportive interventions to at‐risk families to prevent the further escalation of concerns. In this paper, we analyse practitioners' perceptions of factors that inhibit and promote implementation of the Intervention with Parents' Agreement. Drawing upon interviews with 25 practitioners, we identify factors that become important for securing participation after an initial investigation has occurred. We discuss the implications for the development of differential responses in child protection service systems.     

Safeguarding children: challenges to the effective operation of core groups

Founded on an evaluative review of core group practice in a northern metropolitan borough of England, this paper highlights the tensions and difficulties that might inhibit the quality of post‐registration services to children and their families. Insights from the empirical data as well as theoretical literature have been explored in the light of current and developing policies. This exploration is focused on inter‐agency coordination; inter‐professional relationships; and partnership with parents and children. The recruitment and retention of social workers, the potential contribution of Children's Trusts, as well as unconscious processes relating to child abuse and child protection, are all given consideration.     

Securing permanence for children in care: A cross-country analysis of citizen's view on adoption versus foster care

If children in child protection cannot be cared for by their natural parents, should they be adopted or live in foster home? Results from a study of representative samples of populations (n = 12 330), in eight European countries—Austria, England, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway and Spain—and California, USA, reveal that people would recommend adoption over foster care, if a child in public care cannot grow up with their natural parent(s). There are cross-country differences between populations, and examining if institutional context such as type of child protection system explains differences, we find that child maltreatment-oriented systems are more supportive of adoption than other types of systems. Citizens having little confidence in the child protection system were only weakly correlated with preference for adoption. In conclusion, people prefer adoption as placement options for children in care are more than foster homes, and possible this finding reflects a sort of refamalialization of children into the private sphere.     

The Unintended Consequences of “Lack of Supervision” Child Neglect Laws: How Developmental Science Can Inform Policies about Childhood Independence and Child Protection

Policies and programs designed to serve children and families are sometimes misaligned with developmental science research. Broad child neglect reporting laws, first adopted by the United States in 1974, have led to families being prosecuted by child protection authorities for allowing children to participate in everyday age-appropriate activities unsupervised. In this report we describe the challenges of defining child neglect and outline the current landscape of neglect laws in the United States. We then provide a broad overview of some of the developmental milestones children need to reach to participate in unsupervised activities and the benefits of independent activities on child development. Children can often accomplish tasks at a much younger age than law, parents, and caregivers in the U.S. believe. We then turn to the literature from across the world and argue that culture, not innate ability, drives much of the variation in the age at which children can do things on their own. Finally, we make recommendations to parents, caregivers, legislators, advocates, and developmental scientists to better align practice with research. This is a social justice issue that should resonate across party, racial, and class lines. Developmental scientists are needed as advocates and advisors on policies impacting children and families, especially child neglect laws.     

Child protection social workers in Italy and the Covid-19 challenges: Redefining services to support children and their families

During the Covid-19 pandemic, social workers played an essential role in helping people understand what was happening and cope with new unforeseen difficulties, even carrying out new tasks and activities. Social workers were asked to redefine their work methods to maintain aid relationships with families. This reorganization was complex and challenging for child protection services. The paper will discuss the results of a qualitative research project aimed to describe the Italian child protection social workers' functions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Three online focus groups were conducted with child protection social workers. These focus groups helped researchers explore the new organization of social workers' work in child protection services, which was aimed at maintaining their role and performing the new tasks they need to carry out to support families and children. Three main areas of discussion emerged from the qualitative analysis: (1) postponed and maintained activities; (2) remote work advantages and challenges; and (3) new professional learning.     

Protecting children from nutritional and medical neglect in sub‐Saharan Africa: A five‐country study

This study critically considers the applicability of conceptions of child neglect that have been theorised by British and American scholars and promulgated in African countries through the domestication of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The child protection legislation of five sub‐Saharan nations was compared in order to examine the presumptions embedded in their provisions concerning child neglect. These were then appraised in relation to the socio‐economic conditions pertaining in each country. Food insecurity, over‐reliance on staples and high infection rates among children in conjunction with hard to access health care and poor quality services contest the validity and relevance of dominant Anglo‐centric definitions of child neglect and methods for detecting it. The study concluded that greater congruence between national child protection legislation and the socio‐economic challenges faced by families in sub‐Saharan countries would better protect children against neglect. Key Practitioner Message: ● Child neglect is an ethnocentric concept that requires interrogation to test its relevance before applying it to developing country contexts. ● In sub‐Saharan countries, conditions of absolute poverty and grossly inadequate public services profoundly affect the ability of parents or guardians to meet their children's basic needs. ● Laws that frame child protection systems need to recognise the inter‐relationship between public services, poverty and parental care in the neglect of children.     

System abuse: towards a greater understanding from the perspectives of children and parents

The present article explores the concept of system abuse from the perspectives of children and parents. Four main ways in which the term has been used are highlighted and, with reference to the literature, the commonalities underlying the various uses of the term are explored. Reviewing the available evidence suggests that many families may become unnecessarily involved in the child protection system; this finding is discussed within the parameters of the current Section 17/Section 47 debate. Features of the investigation identified as particularly salient for children and parents include the initial phase of the investigation; investigative interviews and medical examinations; case conferences; social-worker/family interaction and the lack of follow-through services. Gaps in service provision when workers do not consider that abuse has occurred are also considered. Finally, pointers for practice during investigations are discussed in the light of this review     

Enablers of help‐seeking for deaf and disabled children following abuse and barriers to protection: a qualitative study

Research internationally has highlighted the increased vulnerability of deaf or disabled children to abuse and the frequently inadequate response of services. However, first‐hand accounts of deaf or disabled children have rarely been sought. This paper reports selected findings from one of the first studies exploring experiences of deaf and disabled children regarding help‐seeking following maltreatment. Innovative and sensitive research methods were employed to support 10 deaf or disabled people (children and adults) to take part in guided conversations. The study identifies three enablers of help‐seeking of deaf or disabled children: the capacity of adults to detect abuse and respond to disclosures, supportive relationships or circumstances which facilitate disclosure and for Deaf children, access to registered interpreters. Barriers to protection related to these are also discussed. Recommendations directed at policy makers, practitioners and families include education and awareness raising amongst practitioners, children, parents and carers; addressing isolation of deaf and disabled children; providing comprehensive support services that address the needs of the child holistically; ensuring that the voice of the child is heard; routine access to registered interpreters for Deaf children within mainstream and specialist services and measures to address disablism at local and institutional levels.