Challenges with children and youth’s participation in child welfare. A study of research and key actors’ experiences
Report
|Published
On behalf of the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health conducted a study to identify the most significant challenges for genuine participation of children and youth in child welfare.
Key message
In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Constitution, and the Child Welfare Act, children and young people have the right to express themselves on matters concerning them and to influence decisions affecting them, including in their interactions with child welfare services. However, ensuring this participation is not always fulfilled in practice. On behalf of the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health conducted a study to identify the most significant challenges for genuine participation of children and youth in child welfare.
We reviewed research literature (27 studies) and conducted interviews with 64 people associated with child welfare services. We identified 27 challenges. After receiving feedback from interview participants, we prioritized the challenges. This resulted in 14 challenges, including:
- Lack of tailored communication between children/youth and their contact person in child welfare
- Formal rather than genuine participation
- Lack of proper documentation practices
- Organizational barriers to participation
- Attitudes/lack of knowledge about different minorities leading to misunderstandings and mistrust
- Young children rarely get to participate
- Many children are unaware that they can have a trusted person with them in meetings with child welfare
We believe that all the identified challenges can be useful for both guideline development and other professional work related to children's participation. Further studies should specifically target children and young people with disabilities, young children, and children and young people from minority cultures.
Summary
Introduction
Participation entails involvement, the ability to express one's opinion and the opportunity to influence. The right of children and young people to participate is described in the Child Welfare Act, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Norwegian Constitution. When children and young people are in contact with child welfare services, they have the right to express themselves in matters that concern them and to influence decisions that affect them. This includes receiving adequate and tailored information and being free to express their opinions. Children and young people should be listened to, and their opinions should be weighted according to their age and maturity. It is the responsibility of child welfare services to ensure the participation of children and young people. However, research literature, supervisory reports, and guideline work in the field of child welfare show that this is not always the case.
The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir) wants to develop a new national guideline directly addressing the participation of children and young people in child welfare. The guideline should address the major or most significant challenges in ensuring genuine participation for children and young people in contact with child welfare services. The guideline should be applicable regardless of the type of case, phase, or intervention, as well as independent of how long the child has been in contact with child welfare services. A review of recent Norwegian research and the experiences of various stakeholders can help define the content of the guideline by identifying areas where the greatest challenges lie, which can be addressed with recommendations in a guideline.
Objective
The aim of the study was to identify the most important challenges in ensuring genuine participation of children and young people in child welfare. These challenges will form the basis for shaping questions to be answered in a future guideline.
Method
We conducted a study in which we analysed research studies and carried out interviews with children, youth, parents, foster parents, and professionals within or in connection with child welfare services.
Literature Review
Inclusion criteria for the literature search were as follows:
- Population: children and adolescents aged 0-25 years and employees in child welfare
- Context: all types of child welfare cases
- Theme of interest: all degrees and types of participation
- Study design: primary studies, systematic reviews, other publications that can illuminate the issue
- Publication year: 2020 and later
- Country/context: Norway, except for systematic reviews with studies from multiple countries
- Language: English, Norwegian
We conducted a literature search in OpenAlex in April and an updated search in December 2023. We also identified literature through other sources: reference lists in included studies, the commissioner and media. We screened all studies, initially abstracts, and then potentially relevant studies in full text. From the included publications, we extracted bibliographic data, data on samples and context (phases/aspects of child welfare), empirical data on children and young people's participation, as well as any theoretical understandings or models of participation. We did not assess the methodological limitations of the studies or the risk of systematic biases. In total, we included 27 publications.
Mapping of Experiences
The mapping of experiences was through interviews, either individually, in pairs, or in groups (focus groups/consultation meetings). We aimed to engage with various stakeholders: children and young people with ongoing child welfare interventions, young adults with past experience in the child welfare system, child welfare professionals, and other relevant individuals associated with child welfare. We developed semi-structured interview guides tailored to different participant groups (children under 12 years old; youth aged 12-18 years old and young adults 18-25 years old; unaccompanied minor asylum seekers; child welfare professionals and other stakeholders with relevant professional connections to child welfare). All in all, we conducted 26 interviews involving a total of 64 individuals. The interviews were conducted face-to-face or digitally and lasted an average of about one hour. Privacy considerations were addressed with an approach recommended by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health's privacy commissioner. Accordingly, we developed information sheets and consent forms tailored to the various groups participating.
Processing and Analysis of Data
The data material consisted of two types of collected data: research literature and interviews. The analytical approach was inspired by the 'best fit framework synthesis', where we used two frameworks: 1) phases/aspects in a child welfare case and 2) a model for participation that we developed based on two established models. We categorized the literature data and interview data and added categories that we felt were missing (framework 1). Then, we compiled the findings for each category and inserted them into the participation model we had developed. Using these tables as a basis, we went through several iterations of discussion to formulate the main challenges, which were then cross-checked against the data. The review of the 27 challenges we had identified was sent out for “consultation” to all participants in the data collection (n=64) with a request to prioritize the top ten challenges and to add any important ones they felt were missing. We received nine replies. These responses are reflected in the prioritized challenges, along with our knowledge of the data.
Results
The prioritized 14 challenges are, in abbreviated form and not in prioritized order:
- Formal participation may get in the way of genuine participation.
- Children's participation in child welfare decisions is not adequately weighted and documented. Children or young people also do not recognize their own statements in the documentation from child welfare/child welfare tribunal.
- The structure, organization, and bureaucracy of child welfare hinder children's participation. Categorical understandings may determine how much children get to participate, without further assessments of the child's capacity for participation.
- Child welfare’s difficulties with getting the child to speak and feel safe hinder children’s participation
- Communication between children and their contact person in child welfare is often not tailored to the individual child. Lack of adaptation in communication may lead to the child not understanding decisions being made and/or to a lack of trust.
- Lack of competence among child welfare staff can hinder genuine participation.
- Child welfare's attitudes towards and lack of knowledge about different cultures or minorities can lead to misunderstandings and mistrust.
- Lack of or wrong use of interpretor or low quality interpretation, can hamper children or young people’s participation, e.g., in meetings and during investigation
- The lack of prior experience with autonomy and participation for the child/family may make participation in child welfare challenging.
- Lack of common understanding of participation across services, within child welfare, among parents and children, can be a challenge for participation.
- Informing the child, the child's opinion formation and the child's expressed opinions are ongoing processes that may take time.
- Children who speak about their case may experience that their statements are understood too literally and cannot be nuanced or changed later.
- Young children rarely get to participate.
- Many children are unaware that they can have a trusted person with them in meetings with child welfare.
Discussion
The study has some strengths and weaknesses. We identified challenges using multiple approaches and user participation was central through both interviews and hearings. However, we did not conduct a full systematic review, and some stakeholder groups were not interviewed. Our findings align with the findings in systematic reviews on children and young people's participation in child welfare published in recent years. The findings could be decisive for the development of a guideline on children and young people's participation, as well as in other normative documents for child welfare. We uncovered some areas that should lead to further studies: children and young people with disabilities, young children, children and young people from minority cultures, and various assistance measures.
