Ethnic Diversity and Child Protection

SUMMARY: Black and minority ethnic children in need of protection receive a poor response from health and social services. Practitioners are reluctant to intervene, and when intervention does take place it reflects a eurocentric approach that fails to engage with the ethnic diversity of vulnerable children. Increasing the levels of safety far all children, black and white, suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, requires taking positive action: collecting ethnically relevant data, a commitment to an equitable distribution of resources, consulting children and parents and involving them in planning and designing services.     

Child Protection and Child Custody

Abstract

A child'S need for safety should trump any and all other considerations in family law. Child-service agencies cannot be expected to both promote reunification and child protection simultaneously. The author asserts that legislatures need to change the laws such that it is clear to the court that children come first and that safety is paramount. Although visitation between child and parent is considered to be a fundamental right, this right can and should be abrogated when initial evidence shows that such contact poses a risk of danger to the emotional or physical health and safety of the child. A new and specially trained court dealing only with issues of family violence and abuse may need to be considered.     

中国儿童保护制度的历史演进

暴力侵害儿童事件会给受害儿童的身体与精神健康带来极大的伤害,建立国家儿童保护制度是保护儿童远离暴力,减轻暴力伤害恶性后果的最有效手段。儿童保护制度是儿童福利制度的一部分。中国的儿童保护制度在1989年之前经历了无意识的制度演进阶段,自1990年我国签署了《儿童权利公约》之后,儿童保护制度进入了萌芽阶段,此后经过近20年的发展,中国儿童保护制度在2010年迎来了"儿童福利元年",我国儿童保护制度开始进入了专业化发展阶段。研究儿童保护制度的历史发展进程有助于总结过去的儿童保护经验,发现儿童保护制度存在的问题并可据此来预判儿童保护制度发展的方向。     

儿童保护考验社会的法律信仰

立法是公共权力、社会秩序和社会正义的综合体．是对政权组织和个人按照社会正义原则进行权力及义务的安排和分配。立法的实质和有效性不在于强力，而在于其目的的合理性．即是否体现了社会正义原则。在涉及儿童权益问题上，不能将其监护人和利益相关者的需求作为首要的标准．将体现社会正义的救援干预放在从属于“自愿交易”的位置．儿童权益事实上成为各方利益博弈的筹码。特别是如果仍将对孤儿、流浪儿童等处于困境儿童的救助还限于慈善事业的范围，反映出的则是在有限的法律制度背后的法律信仰的缺失。由于儿童处于依附性社会角色，如果没有来自社会主动的、有组织的关注．司法体制在缺少监督压力的情况下，往往是低效率的。社会资本是促进人们合作行为的规范，对于社会资本的判断，也在一定意义上是垄断司法资源，还是让人们信仰法律的公开性、正义性的体制理念。     

The Restorative Power of Emotions in Child Protection Services

The paper examines the significance of our emotional life for validation, enrichment and guidance in everyday behavior. Child protection services (CPS) workers need to understand how emotions affect family dynamics and, in particular, parental behavior as a basis for their work with families. Moreover, in order for CPS workers to be aware of, and professionally responsive to, the importance of a family's emotions requires that they are comfortable with their own feelings. This means that they need to work in CPS agencies which recognize and support this practice orientation. The paper also addresses how the agency can influence CPS workers to become more knowledgeable and attuned to, not only the families' emotional lives, but also to their own.     

The Munro Review of Child Protection: An Appraisal

Over the last 40 years child protection systems in all Advanced Western Societies have been subject to high profile criticisms and regular major reviews. In many respects the Munro Review of Child Protection (2011) in England, is very different to those which have gone before. This paper summarises the main findings and recommendations of The Review and locates it in its immediate policy and practice contexts. The paper also begins to identify some of its possible gaps and challenges and argues that the success of The Review is likely to depend on cultural, political and economic factors well beyond its influence and outlines what these are.     

Towards Empowerment in Child Protection Work

SUMMARY. The authors argue in this paper that the dominance of legal and professional approaches that individualise and pathologise child abuse has left welfare workers ill-equipped to respond to the emergent interest in parent's and children's rights. They suggest that such approaches fail to take adequate account of inequalities based on class, gender and race and the socially-constructed aspects of adult-child relationships. They develop a concept of empowerment, informed by radical traditions within welfare work, which can be applied in the context of state intervention to protect children. The applicability of the model is then examined through the use of two case studies.     

Power and Child Protection: The Need for a Child Welfare Service Users' Union or Association

Abstract

This paper reports a study in which parents who had received child protection intervention set out to develop a “Service Users' Guide” to help parents newly receiving intervention better understand and cope with the process. The study took place in Ontario, Canada between 2004–2009. Ninety-five parents took part in 13 focus groups and 20 individual interviews. A mix of Participatory Action and grounded theory methods were used to enable parents to develop their service uses guide. As the study progressed it quickly became evident that the biggest issue parents face when receiving intervention is an imbalance in power between themselves and workers. This paper describes the problems this power imbalance causes for parents and presents a potential solution suggested by parents themselves – the development of a child welfare service users' association or union. Parent's ideas about why this association is needed, how it could function, and the benefits it might bring, are discussed. The paper concludes by reviewing the benefits a service users' association might bring not only for those receiving child welfare intervention, but all social work services.     

Alternative Dispute Resolution in Child Protection Matters: The Victorian Experience

Abstract

Pre-hearing conferences were introduced in 1992 into the Family Division of the Children's Court, Victoria. Pre-hearing conferences take place when there is a dispute between the Child Protection Service and the child's family about the need for statutory intervention in their family's life. The conference is held prior to any formal hearing so that the family, their legal representatives and the welfare authority can see whether they can negotiate an agreement about a child protection order. The present paper sets out the findings of a study of 208 pre-hearing conferences held in the Melbourne Children's Court from February to July 2002. The study found that the quality of legal advice provided to parents significantly affected the outcome of pre-hearing conferences. Legal representatives varied in their willingness to step aside from the adversarial approach and give priority to discussion about child welfare concerns. It was apparent that professionals coming to the pre-hearings, both legal and welfare, had different expectations of these forums. It is imperative that if pre-hearings are to succeed, then their role and place in the child protection legal process is clearly explicated and professionals receive training in alternative dispute resolution.