NCJ Number
214281
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: March-April 2006 Pages: 89-109
Date Published
March 2006
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study explored the polices and practices of agencies in terms of engaging children’s participation in the child protection process in Wales.
Abstract
Results revealed that although all nine agencies under examination had at least some provisions in place for the participation of children, the level and type of participation varied widely. Many social workers and chairs reported that the child protection process was not “child-friendly” in terms of eliciting participation and collaboration with children. Moreover, the authors noted a divergence between agency policy regarding child participation and actual levels of child participation. Barriers to child participation included the existing child protection conference arrangements, which tended to be large business-like meetings, and a lack of time to prepare children. Nine social service departments in Wales participated in the research, which involved an analysis of policy documents, child protection conference minutes, interviews with 10 social workers, and interviews with 9 chairs of child protection conferences. Data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows to generate descriptive statistics and using Winmax 98 Pro for qualitative analysis. In closing, the authors suggest that children could be the foremost advisers on how to make the child protection process more child-friendly. Tables, references