Child Protection and Children’s Services in Switzerland

Abstract

This chapter notes Switzerland’s child protection and children’s services. The core principles of subsidiary and federalism are upheld at all levels of policy-making and policy implementation. Thus, the country’s political system and federalism have a significant impact on the institutionalization of child protection and children’s services. The distinctiveness of child protection in Switzerland is due to the diversity of its institutional arrangements linked to numerous policies, programs, and cultures of decision making. Decisions on child protection measures are related to the requirement that a child’s best interests are threatened and the parents are unwilling or unable to remedy the situation.