The rights of the child and ethnic minority families in Sweden

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was launched in 1989 and is ratified in most countries. The UNCRC is considered by child welfare authorities worldwide to be an essential document that aims to improve the rights of children. However, contemporary research indicates that the UNCRC is an obstacle to social work because it emphasizes the legal equality between children and adults. This finding prompts the question of how Western child protection agencies conduct child protection encounters with families with a non-Western ethnic background. The present article aims to examine if specific articles in the UNCRC can serve as a medium for improving social work with ethnic minority families within the child protection sector in Sweden. This article is based on a research project concerning youths with an ethnic minority background in out-of-home care. Relevant articles in the UNCRC are revealed to be potentially helpful to child protection programmes involving ethnic minority families because these articles emphasize considering the perspective of the child and strengthening parenting skills. However, child protection agencies must consider how the UNCRC can be used to teach parents or guardians to understand and acknowledge the perspective of the child without violating the values of the family.     

Children's and young people's participation within child welfare and child protection services: a state‐of‐the‐art review

This state‐of‐the‐art literature review, based on a literature search of multiple scientific bibliographic databases, aims to shed light on what is known about barriers and factors facilitating child participation within the child protection and child welfare services from both children's and social workers' perspectives. The personal relationship between the child and the social worker is mentioned as one of the most important facilitators for participation, although multiple barriers in creating this relationship are demonstrated by both children and case managers and social workers. In studies, children say they should always participate while social workers and case managers identify many situations where, according to them, participation is inappropriate. Professionals' objections to participation mainly stem from the socio‐cultural image of children as vulnerable and in need of adult protection, and a lack of understanding of what participation actually entails. Interventions to strengthen participation should be directed at making social workers and case managers aware that children are knowledgeable social actors.     

Age limits for participation in child protection court proceedings in Sweden

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Swedish legislation, children have the right to participate in child protection proceedings. The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse the notion of age and maturity in child protection proceedings in order to elucidate how these aspects could influence children's rights to participate. We focus on the view of three groups of actors involved in child protection proceedings in Sweden—social workers, lawyers, and laypersons in social welfare boards and administrative courts—and on how children's age and maturity should be taken into consideration in decisions on their participation in court. The analysis is based on survey data. The study found that social workers, laypersons, and lawyers have different views on when children are old enough to have the right to litigate in court. Additionally, there is no consensus on how the maturity of the child can be assessed to inform the decision about participation. More discussion is needed about what competences a child needs to participate in court and to what extent this right should be limited by their age. Importantly, courts and decision‐making proceedings can be made more child friendly.     

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.     

Lithuania's children's policy in the period of transition

The article investigates the welfare regime of the free Lithuanian Republic from the perspective of children's policy. The main principles of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – child protection, child provision and child participation – serve as indicators for the level of child orientation. The article analyses legal and institutional issues related to the implementation of the Convention in Lithuania in the first decade of Independence 1990–2001. Furthermore, it compares Lithuanian policy with the three welfare regimes identified by Esping-Andersen. Our results indicate that Lithuanian policy shows a low level of child orientation and that the Lithuanian welfare regime does not correspond to any of the welfare regimes in Esping-Andersen's typology. Lithuania still shows traits from the former Soviet regime. The new liberal extreme market orientation is not modified by social support institutions, and is combined with conservative ideologies on women and family.     

Ascertaining the wishes and feelings of young children: social workers' perspectives on skills and training

The research was undertaken in the context of the ongoing debate about child care social work training and children's participation. Its aim was to explore the views of qualified child care social workers about their skills in eliciting the wishes and feelings of younger children and the relevance of social work training for this task. Questionnaires, focusing on their skills and training, were completed by 70 UK child care practitioners from the Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service, voluntary agencies and local authorities. On average, practitioners felt able to ascertain the feelings and wishes of children as young as 4 years old. Nevertheless, at qualifying level, only 30% had training in communicating with young children, 16% in ascertaining children's feelings and wishes, and 66% in child development. Many had subsequently relied on in‐service training and their own initiatives to acquire further skills and understanding. In conclusion, most participants were experienced practitioners working in supportive organizations and had developed considerable communication skills. However, concerns remain because they identified deficits in child care social work qualifying and post‐qualifying training. Consequently, more effective training at all levels is required if social workers are to engage younger children successfully and facilitate their participation.     

Partnerships with children in child welfare: The importance of trust and pedagogical support

Within the context of Norwegian Child Welfare Services, children's best interests are often promoted through inter‐professional collaboration. Although children have the right and desire to participate, research reveals that professionals do not listen to them. On the basis of qualitative interviews with 10 children about their experiences collaborating with professionals, we have identified ways in which professionals can facilitate children's participation. The findings show that trusting relationships, emotional support, and pedagogical approaches increase children's participation in their interactions with professionals. The results show the importance of including a relational understanding of participation as a theoretical concept in child welfare and an awareness that power and dominance are in play.     

Human Rights Abuse in Aspects of Child Protection Practice?

This article examines some aspects of child protection practice in various Australian states. It does so from a parent's perspective through the framework of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990). Australia was a signatory to both the Declaration and Convention at their point of inception. Of particular interest are articles 5 and 12 of the Universal Declaration and articles 5 and 9(3) of the Convention. The tentative conclusion is that the states cited in this article are from time to time in breach of these articles. The potential Australian Charter of Rights offers a way forward as a guide to development of legislation and service systems that will ensure the rights of children and parents while maintaining child wellbeing as a top priority.     

Exploring drivers of demand for child protection services in an English local authority

This paper reports on an empirical study of child protection services in a local authority where rates of investigations and interventions rose to unprecedented levels during the course of a single year. The aim of the research was to explore explanations for this rise in demand among the providers of children's social care in the area. Using an interpretative qualitative design, a series of focus groups and interviews were carried out with practitioners and managers (n = 25) from statutory services and Early Help. The findings identified a combination of long‐term and short‐term drivers of demand. Long‐term factors emphasized the impact of rising levels of deprivation combined with cuts to community‐based services for children and young people. Short‐term factors ranged from a more proactive approach to child neglect to more effective multi‐agency partnerships and joint decision making. The interaction between these factors was found to be accentuating an underlying shift to “late intervention” across the sector. The findings are contextualized in relation to contemporary debates about the crisis of demand for children's social care and the complex relationship between prevention and protection.     

Social workers' perceptions of children's right to participation

Recent years have witnessed a growing worldwide recognition for the need to incorporate children's right to participate into the child welfare system. Yet studies show that most children in the welfare system do not feel that they are listened to or that their opinions are taken into account. This paper presents findings from a study conducted among 151 Israeli social workers, examining their perceptions on children's participation. The study explored to what extent they implement this principle in their everyday practice and whether there is a relationship between their perceptions and their actions. The findings revealed that social workers tend to endorse a protective position with regard to children's participation and that they only partially implement children's right to participation in their daily practice.     

Using local areas data to improve the lives of disadvantaged children and families

Because economic and social opportunities are unevenly distributed across England, the places in which children and young people are born and grow up can have significant influences on both their current well‐being and their future life chances. Data now available confirms the expected finding that the level of child well‐being found in an area tends to reflect its overall level of disadvantage. However, there are a number of exceptions to this general rule – local areas where child well‐being is either significantly better or worse than would be expected given the levels of advantage which exist there. Some of the possible explanations for these exceptions are considered, using additional data available from the mapping of children's services, particularly in relation to the provision of child and adolescent mental health services. It is argued that continued analysis of these different streams of data as they develop and mature over the coming years had an important role to play in assisting policy‐makers, service providers and local people, working collaboratively, to promote the well‐being of disadvantaged children and young people.     

Child‐led research in the context of Australian social welfare practice

This paper details the first child‐led research programme to be implemented in Australia in which children design and lead their own research about issues they identify. The programme was specifically adapted for children who were service users of a nongovernment organization that provides social welfare and support services to vulnerable children and their families, living in communities of the disadvantaged. The practitioner – researchers faced the expected challenges of power in child–adult relations pertinent to the status of children in a genuinely child‐led research endeavour. However, the paper details the additional challenges and responses required when conducting research in a practice environment and the successful adaptations that were used to meet these challenges. The positive findings of an independently commissioned programme evaluation raise important questions about the place and purpose of child‐led research within the field of children's social welfare practice.     

Implementation of Child Rights in the Children's Homes in Malaysia

The objective of this study was to examine the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in the Children Homes under the Social Welfare Department (SWD) in Malaysia. Data was collected from 402 registered children who were staying in six Children Homes across the country. This study employed self‐report surveys where multiple data collection methods, such as face‐to‐face structured interviews, key informant interviews (KIIs), and documentation survey, were used. The study found that the SWD failed to comply with most of the commitments of CRC in Children Homes at its implementation level, and it is still needs based. The findings of this study present important guidelines for government and policy makers in improving child welfare services in the Children Homes in Malaysia.     

Crafting Child‐friendly Cities: Evidence from Biratnagar Sub‐metropolitan City,Eastern Nepal

Our cities are increasingly becoming the sites where children socialize, observe, and learn how society functions and many local and global activities have impacted children's health and well‐being. The Child‐friendly Cities initiative, launched by the United Nations Children's Fund and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme in 1996, draws in diverse stakeholders to place children at the center of the urban agenda. Based on social work research, this article analyzes the acclaimed status of Biratnagar Sub‐metropolitan city, Eastern Nepal, as a child‐friendly city. Despite its efforts, the city of Biratnagar is yet to meet the required criteria to claim itself as a child‐friendly city. Further improvements by the city administration in achieving children's participation in decision‐making, child‐friendly legal environment, and code of conduct are essential. Based on the evidence, the authors advocate for bottom‐up approaches that include children's voices and their real participation in city governance and a strong political will to craft child‐friendly cities, not as a policy rhetoric but for real. Enabling children to fulfill their potential as equal participants in crafting child‐friendly cities will require adults to relinquish some of their hegemonic powers of decision‐making on behalf of children.     

The implementation and development of child welfare and protection works in China

The Chinese government adheres to the principle of ‘children first’ and actively protects their rights of survival, development, protection and participation through methods such as laws and regulations, policy system, public services and pilot works. The Chinese government aimed to narrow the gap between children's development in rural and urban areas and to continuously improve the level of child welfare. The government complies fully with its responsibilities in raising the overall quality of life for children and improving their health and overall development.

China has 280 million children, and is the country with the most children in the world. China is a signatory of and a country that loyally implements the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Since the economic reform, China's economy has developed rapidly, politics has been harmonized and stabilized, and the degree of social civilization has risen continuously. At the same time, work on children has also achieved remarkable accomplishments in China.     

Widening our knowledge concerning young looked after children: the case for research using sociological models of childhood

The Assessment and Action framework for looked after children, designed to improve outcomes for all children in public care and those at home on care orders, is now well established in the UK. This paper offers a critical evaluation of the framework by examining the model of childhood upon which it is premised and by exploring its relationship to children's rights as conceptualized in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). It will be argued that the particular child development model which underpins the framework addresses the rights of looked after children to protection and provision but does not allow for their participation rights to be sufficiently addressed. A critical review of the research concerning the education and health of looked after children is used to illustrate these points. It will be argued that what are missing are the detailed accounts of looked after children themselves. It is concluded that there is a need for the development of additional research approaches premised upon sociological models of childhood. These would allow for a greater engagement with the participation rights of this group of children and complement the pre‐existing research agenda.     

Children’s Participation in Child Protection Practice in Ghana: Practitioners’ Recommendations for Practice

Abstract

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) includes provisions to ensure that children and young people participate in decisions affecting their lives. Ghana ratified the convention in 1990 making a commitment to review its child protection policies and legislation in compliance with provisions in the UNCRC. Yet, national policies and legislation do not include practical guidelines to promote children’s participation in the child protection process. Thus, this qualitative study presents findings from in-depth interviews with 15 child protection practitioners on their views about some practical guidelines to promote children’s participation in child protection. Data from the interviews were subjected to constructivist grounded theory analysis. The study findings revealed the age of the child, separate room for children, creating a friendly environment and education as some important factors for practitioners to consider in promoting participatory practices for children. Child protection policies and legislation in Ghana should include these suggestions to ensure that children’s views are heard in the child protection process. To realize the overarching goal of achieving active child participation in child protection, further research may focus on the views of parents and children on how to develop culturally relevant strategies to promote child participation.     

‘It's about changing services and building relationships’: evaluating the development of Children in Care Councils

The introduction of Children in Care Councils under the Care Matters reforms in England set a challenge for local authorities to find effective ways by which children in care could contribute their views to the planning and provision of services. This paper discusses a review of progress across London which combined a survey of boroughs with focus group discussions with young people, local authority staff and elected members. The research found that considerable progress had been made in that virtually all boroughs had some mechanism for representing children in care, and that staff and young people were proud of their achievements. However, major challenges remain – to embed a culture of participation in services, to ensure continuity, to reach all children including the many placed ‘out of borough’ and to defend what has been achieved in the face of severe cuts in public spending. The paper highlights a tension between empowering young people and meeting targets as corporate parents. The results support other research pointing to the need for a better understanding of the relationship between participation in governance and participation grounded in ordinary life.     

A court file analysis of child protection cases: What do children say?

Children's participation in legal proceedings affecting them personally has been gaining importance. So far, a primary research concern has been how children experience their participation in court proceedings. However, little is known about the child's voice itself: Are children able to clearly express their wishes, and if so, what do they say in child protection cases? In this study, we extracted information about children's statements from court file data of 220 child protection cases in Germany. We found 182 children were asked about their wishes. The majority of the statements found came either from reports of the guardians ad litem or from judicial records of the child hearings. Using content analysis, three main aspects of the statements were extracted: wishes concerning main place of residence, wishes about whom to have or not contact with, and children granting decision‐making authority to someone else. Children's main focus was on their parents, but others (e.g., relatives and foster care providers) were also mentioned. Intercoder agreement was substantial. Making sure that child hearings are as informative as possible is in the child's best interest. Therefore, the categories developed herein might help professionals to ask questions more precisely relevant to the child.     

Child Welfare in England: Problems, Promises and Prospects

This paper discusses developments in child welfare services in England in recent years and, particularly, the role and contribution of research. It is shown that a more significant and coherent body of child welfare research has been developed, which has linked formally to the policy process. Research programmes in England have highlighted specific problems in three areas: first, moving away from a narrow focus on child protection to an approach that provides broader family support for children in need; second, the absence of policies relating to services for adolescents; and, lastly, problems in the delivery of residential care for young people. A major programme of reform has been introduced by the new Labour government, consistent with research messages. It is concluded that research has had an impact on the development of child welfare services in England, although influencing the structure of services, social work practice and outcomes for young people are highly complex issues.