Children expressing their views in child protection casework: Current research and their rights going forward

Abstract

Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) provides children with the right to express their views in matters that affect them, particularly those of an administrative and judicial nature. This paper examines the academic discourse in child protection research concerning how Article 12 of the CRC is implemented and how it is manifested in child protection service (CPS) casework practices. The systematic review was performed following the principles of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) statement and included 16 peer‐reviewed articles published in English in academic journals from multiple scientific databases from January 2009 to January 2019 reporting primary research with children about their experiences of participation in CPS. Despite the widespread ratification of the CRC several decades ago, the studies in the current review establish a clear and predictable pattern of an inability of children to express themselves throughout CPS proceedings. Findings consistently indicate that children in different countries felt they were not being asked, listened to or heard, in some cases even regarding harmful and unsafe situations. We argue the academic discourse must move beyond these findings and discuss how research can contribute to dealing with these obstacles and improving practices by focussing on Article 12 in particular and human rights in general throughout CPS practices.

‘The Pandemic Affected My Life in a Negative Way’: The Experiences of Estonian Children in Child Protective Services During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

“…Similarly, Jones et al ( 2020 ) suggested that the pandemic would enable the reshaping of CPS to include children as part of the solution. Although listening to children's experiences enables stakeholders to better understand and respond to their needs and support their well‐being, international CPS practices lack children's voices or take a tokenistic approach to listen to children's views (Kosher & Ben‐Arieh, 2020 ; Toros, 2021 ; Falch‐Eriksen et al, 2021 ; van Bijleveld et al, 2020 ). In general, children's participation is believed to benefit both children and society (Björnsdóttir & Einarsdóttir, 2017 ), including in times of crisis.…”

Foster children’s perspectives on participation in child welfare processes: A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies

“…In this meta-synthesis, we summarize children’s perspectives on their participation in foster care processes and in particular their (non-) participation in the removal from home, foster family processes, and placement breakdown. The findings of this meta-synthesis will be useful to policy makers, who are increasingly requested to incorporate children’s voices into decision-making [ 16 , 24 , 25 ], and practitioners, who need to consider the nuances of when and how to include children’s voices in practice and decision-making [ 26 ]. The inclusion of children’s voices has a number of benefits to children, practitioners, and policy makers, such as affording children their inherent rights to participate, empowering children and reducing their confusion regarding services, and improving service delivery through more tailored, responsive services [ 24 , 26 , 27 ].…”

“…The findings of this meta-synthesis will be useful to policy makers, who are increasingly requested to incorporate children’s voices into decision-making [ 16 , 24 , 25 ], and practitioners, who need to consider the nuances of when and how to include children’s voices in practice and decision-making [ 26 ]. The inclusion of children’s voices has a number of benefits to children, practitioners, and policy makers, such as affording children their inherent rights to participate, empowering children and reducing their confusion regarding services, and improving service delivery through more tailored, responsive services [ 24 , 26 , 27 ]. As the authors of one review note, children’s “participation has both intrinsic (dignity and self-worth in terms of expressing views to influence decisions about their lives) and instrumental (policy and better outcomes for children in terms of supportive relationships with their workers and positive experiences at school and in CPS [children protection services]) value” [ 24 ].…”

“…The inclusion of children’s voices has a number of benefits to children, practitioners, and policy makers, such as affording children their inherent rights to participate, empowering children and reducing their confusion regarding services, and improving service delivery through more tailored, responsive services [ 24 , 26 , 27 ]. As the authors of one review note, children’s “participation has both intrinsic (dignity and self-worth in terms of expressing views to influence decisions about their lives) and instrumental (policy and better outcomes for children in terms of supportive relationships with their workers and positive experiences at school and in CPS [children protection services]) value” [ 24 ]. This meta-synthesis adds to an important increasing focus in the literature on children’s participation across all aspects of child welfare processes [ 24 , 26 – 28 ], but with an explicit focus on how foster children speak about their participation.…”

“…As the authors of one review note, children’s “participation has both intrinsic (dignity and self-worth in terms of expressing views to influence decisions about their lives) and instrumental (policy and better outcomes for children in terms of supportive relationships with their workers and positive experiences at school and in CPS [children protection services]) value” [ 24 ]. This meta-synthesis adds to an important increasing focus in the literature on children’s participation across all aspects of child welfare processes [ 24 , 26 – 28 ], but with an explicit focus on how foster children speak about their participation.…”