Barriers to ensuring child participation in the daily practice of Lithuanian child welfare professionals

This paper presents the first results of a large-scale research project on the child protection services in Tenerife, Spain. In Study 1, the professional beliefs and practices of 152 child protection workers, as measured by a Professional Beliefs and Practices Questionnaire, were correlated with their scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Higher scores on a variety of deficit-based beliefs and practices were associated with higher burnout scores, while strengths-based beliefs and practices correlated negatively with burnout. In Study 2, the workers were assigned either to a control group or to an experimental group that received 30 hours of training in solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) plus 30 hours of supervision. Workers in the experimental group changed their professional practices and beliefs in a more strengths-based direction from pre-test to six-month follow-up, with large effect sizes for the SFBT training (from d = 1.42 to d = 2.07). The SFBT training also had a small but significant effect on burnout at follow-up (d = 0.48). A regression model was able to account for 83.8% of the variance in burnout scores at six-month follow-up. Neither time working in child protection nor severity of cases predicted burnout at follow-up. Burnout at follow-up was predicted by burnout at pre-test and by changes in the professional beliefs and practices of workers. Workers who changed in the direction of more strengths-based beliefs showed lower burnout scores at follow-up, whereas those who changed to more deficit-based beliefs increased their burnout. Workers who changed their professional practices in the direction of focusing more on the difficulties of service users showed increased burnout. Changing practice in the direction of becoming more collaborative, “leading families from one step behind”, and of working in a more trans-disciplinary way with team members and other colleagues predicted lower burnout.

We Have All Been Working in Our Own Little Silos Forever: Exploring a Cross-Sector Response to Child Maltreatment

Child welfare and child rights protection is relevant issue in every democratic country. Different countries develop different approaches to child protection systems, creating policy of child protection, legislating documents and establishing formal child protection services (Gilbert, 2012; Connolly et al., 2014; Biesel et al., 2020). The child’s potential is understood in the context of his/her development and welfare. Welfare is a dynamic process influenced by multiple factors. Children interact with their environment and take an active role in creating their welfare, with or without resources, coping with or without stress, and so on (Bradshaw et al., 2007). The aim of the paper is to describe and explain the configuration of the child and family welfare system based on the conceptual reflections of child and family welfare concepts in the practice of Lithuanian’s child and family welfare professionals. The study is based on the conceptual concepts of child welfare developed by Gilbert and an international team of researchers (Gilbert et al., 2011), highlighting the definition of the problem frame, the mode and aim of the intervention, and the state-parent relationship. The paper presents a study that raises the question of how often child and family welfare system specialists observe various features of conceptual components of child and family welfare in their professional practice, such as problem frame, mode of intervention, aim of intervention, and state-family relationship. A questionnaire survey was conducted. The survey covered a total of 501 respondents, the child and family welfare system professionals. Results demonstrate, that in dimension of problem frame child protection approach is observed (according to Gilbert et al., 2011; Gilbert, 2012). Within this approach dysfunctional parenting as maltreating parents is accentuated. [...].

This study examined child welfare and mental health professionals' views of the quality of psychiatric services received by consumers of the child welfare system and explored root causes of perceived quality problems. One hundred and thirty child welfare, mental health and court professionals participated in qualitative interviews individually or in groups. Data analyses identified perceived problems in quality and perceived causes of quality problems. Participants in member checking groups were then asked to comment on and further clarify the results. The participants reported concerns related to overuse of psychotropic medication, overmedicated children, short inpatient stays, and continuity of psychiatric care. Overuse of psychotropic medications and overmedication were perceived to be driven by short evaluations, liability concerns, short inpatient stays and a lack of clinical feedback to psychiatrists from child welfare partners. Medicaid reimbursement policies were at the heart of several quality concerns. These problems contributed to a distrust of psychiatric practices among child welfare professionals. These findings underscore the adverse effects of modern marketplace medicine coupled with low Medicaid reimbursement rates on quality of care for vulnerable groups. Child welfare and mental health professionals and their associated stakeholders may together possess substantial clout to advocate for a reimbursement system and structure that promotes quality service. The findings also point to a crisis of credibility toward psychiatric practice among social service and other non-psychiatrist mental health professionals. Efforts are needed to increase the capacity for psychiatrists and child welfare professionals to communicate effectively with each other and for psychiatrists to receive the information that they need from their child welfare partners to ensure accurate diagnosis and effective treatment.

This thesis explores how standardisation in Norwegian child welfare services (CWS) influences CWS professionals and practices. CWS is a complex field, which has been criticised for poor decision-making and for not putting effective measures into place for families in need. CWS practice is also criticised for not being informed by research. As a response to these criticisms, we have witnessed an increased use of standards and standardisation to ensure effective and accountable services of high quality. Consequently, the use of standardised assessment forms and standardised intervention programmes has been on the rise, in Norway and internationally. This has led to considerable debate concerning the tension between standardisation as a tool of control and professional practice involving discretion. Critical voices have argued that standardisation limits professionals’ discretion and restricts their ability to use specialised abstract knowledge, a key feature of professional work. Much research on standardisation has focused on effects of standardised practices with a top-down approach. Hence, there is a need for research on the ‘ongoing work’ that frontline professionals engage in and how frontline practice is influenced by standardisation, which is the aim of this study. This thesis aims to expand the body of knowledge on how standardisation affects professional practice. This is done by investigating how CWS professionals use two standardised tools commonly used in Norway, namely the Kvello Assessment Framework tool (KF) and Circle of Security - parenting (COS-P). The overall research question is: How do CWS professionals become carriers of standardised practice and how does standardised practice influence the professional role? To answer the research question, a case study design was chosen, the case being standardised practice. The data stem from fieldwork, client documents and interviews with CWS professionals in two child welfare offices. In order to explore how the frontline professionals respond to the standardised tools, the analysis draws on institutional theory and the theory of profession. The body of this thesis consists of three articles. The first article examines how the professionals adapt the two standardised tools into the local practice. Findings are based on observation (45 days), client documents (15) and interviews with 49 participants, including frontline professionals and managers. The findings show that new rules for practice and knowledge emerged, but that the professionals modified the tools for ethical and practical reasons. Consequently, the professionals were active agents through the exercise of discretion. The second article explores how the two standardised tools influence the professional role in relation to CWS work. The analysis is based on interviews with 31 frontline professionals (individual and group interviews). The findings show that the standardised tools enhanced professionals’ competence but also challenged their professional knowledge base, reflective practice and accountability through a more rule-following approach. Moreover, the article points to the potential of doing families injustice. The third article examines how use of the KF influences assessment work in CWS. The data stem from fieldwork, client documents and interviews with 32 CWS professionals, including frontline professionals and managers. While the two first articles focus on both standardised tools, the third article pays particular attention to the KF. Findings revealed that the KF tool led to a proceduralist approach in assessment work, placing demands on focus and activities, as well as interpretative demands upon the professionals. Moreover, lack of transparency in decision-making processes was identified, with a heavy reliance on detecting risk factors. A key question raised in the article is whether the proceduralisation of CWS practice leads to better CWS practices. The thesis expands our knowledge about how standardisation influences professional practice in CWS. By focusing on ‘ongoing work’ performed by the frontline professionals, this thesis provides knowledge on how professionals are also active agents. Although a procedural rule- following approach seemed to dominate among the professionals that took part in this study, some also questioned the standards and took action to alter them with regard to their professional ethos. Moreover, the study contributes knowledge on how standardisation influences professionals’ discretionary space, the knowledge base and the professional role in a CWS practice context. As this thesis shows, standardisation can support CWS practice; however, the use of standardised tools alone will not solve the complexity of CWS work.

The Common Assessment Framework is a standard assessment tool to be used by all professionals working with children for assessment and referral. The CAF is hailed as a needs-led, evidence-based tool which will promote uniformity, ensure appropriate ‘early intervention’, reduce referral rates to local authority children's services and lead to the evolution of ‘a common language’ amongst child welfare professionals. This paper presents findings from a study, funded under the Economic and Social Research Council's e-Society Programme. Our purpose in is not primarily evaluative, rather we illustrate the impacts of CAF as a technology on the everyday professional practices in child welfare. We analyse the descriptive, stylistic and interpretive demands it places on practitioners in child welfare and argue that practitioners make strategic and moral decisions about whether and when to complete a CAF and how to do so. These are based on assessments of their accountabilities, their level of child welfare competence and their domain-specific knowledge, moral judgements and the institutional contexts in which these are played out.

‘Every Child Matters’ (ECM) is a government response to longstanding concerns about child welfare and protection. A key feature is the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve information sharing and inter-professional communication. One of the proposals requires the establishment of an index, ContactPoint, which is a database containing information on all children in their area, to be used by child welfare professionals to indicate their involvement with a child and, where there is ‘cause for concern’, to facilitate joint action. Whilst these proposals for harnessing ICTs within child welfare are a central part of the government's modernization strategy, plans for the Index have been heavily criticized for its panoptic potential to invade privacy and override professional discretion and judgement. This paper reports findings from an ethnographic study funded by the ESRC e-Society Programme. Drawing on data collected in one ‘Trailblazer’ local authority area during the pilot phase, it describes the introduction of a local child index and the ways in which professionals and the technologies are drawn together within the local child welfare network. For the Index to achieve its original purpose of improving information sharing and inter-professional communication it must be ‘used’ by child welfare practitioners. But establishing the Index as a friend to the child welfare professional is not a straightforward process. The research suggests this is dependent on a set of relations that are being constantly negotiated and accomplished in everyday practice. It is clear the deployment of ICTs in professional practice is highly contingent upon local policy implementation, the local arrangement of services and the everyday practices of busy and sceptical practitioners.

In this article, we discuss an everyday life approach as a basis for professional collaboration with children in light of the present day emphasis on children's rights. Everyday life is both a theoretical concept and an object for exploration. We present approaches, results and experiences from the research project “Talk with Us” – Professional practices and children's participation. The aim of the project was to study how professional practices could be formed to support children's participation in their everyday life, as well as in professional practices. The article draws on empirical material from the child welfare field. The project has dealt with the questions of how to talk with children in professional practices, what to talk about, and why the children should be engaged verbally, aspects of professional practices which are highly intertwined. However, in both the research literature and policy documents most attention is given to the question of how one develops professional skills in talking with children. By contrast, this article focuses on the question of what, the content of the conversations. The subject of examination is of importance for illuminating the kinds of knowledge that might be generated, and important for the consequences that that knowledge can have for the services the particular child is offered, in other words, how “the case” is constituted. Knowledge of what happens in the particular child's everyday life, and how she/he makes sense of it, is crucial for the professional to be able to assist the child. Although the empirical material is from the child welfare field, we suggest that the issues discussed are relevant also for other professional contexts involving children.

Face-to-face interactions between child welfare (CW) professionals and children are often overlooked. This study explores these interactions within the Norwegian in-home support context, specifically focusing on direct encounters with children under twelve in in-home support settings. In Norway, in-home CW measures provide family-centred support through tailored interventions, allowing children to remain at home while receiving assistance. Despite extensive research on the professional roles in child and family social work, there is a gap concerning the nuanced communication practices that occur during interactions between children and CW professionals. This article aims to explore how CW professionals and children engage during group activities and reflect on the impact of these interactions on CW practice. This ethnographic research involved six months of observations, including informal conversations and weekly group activities with a total of thirteen professionals and twelve children aged seven to twelve. The findings reveal a dynamic interplay of physical space arrangement, engagement strategies, and activity-based methods that support child involvement and build positive relationships and trust. The study emphasizes the need to develop professional communication skills that are authentic and empathetic, advocating for a child-centred approach in CW policies and practices.

Vicarious traumatization among child welfare and child protection professionals: A systematic review

This book proposes a dialogical approach to child development and child welfare practice that reasserts the importance of communication – through talk, stories, narratives, language and reflection – in children's development, in professional child welfare practice and in child welfare organisational arrangements. In doing so, the book provides an overview of postmodernist contributions to child development theory as they pertain to the child welfare field. In particular, the book unpacks the concept of ‘agency’ for child welfare work. Agents take an active position in the world and can influence events that concern them. Agency develops through dialogue and interaction with other people and social institutions. The book analyses agency at three levels: for individual children and parents, for child welfare professionals, and for child welfare organisations. These are interrelated, because child welfare gets involved when parents or children lack adequate agency; that is, they lack the power or the capacity to be autonomous or to manage their lives. It is argued that the same kinds of processes are required to develop agency in children, to build or to repair agency in troubled parents, and to develop agency in child welfare professionals and organisations. Dialogue is the key process that develops agency.

In the late 20th and early 21st century United States, the production and misuse of methamphetamine was a growing and urgent public health, criminal justice, and child welfare problem affecting whole families and communities, particularly in rural areas. Yet, child welfare professionals, social workers, educators, and others working within rural areas had little systematic, descriptive data on which to build effective interventions for the growing numbers of children affected by methamphetamine misuse. This book describes a program of mixed methods research combining strategies from developmental and child clinical psychology, psychiatry, and ethnography to examine the psychological functioning of rural children from methamphetamine-involved families. Participants were twenty-nine children in foster care because of parental methamphetamine misuse, four mothers recovering from methamphetamine addiction, seven foster parents of children from methamphetamine-involved families, and twenty-eight knowledgeable rural professionals (child welfare and law enforcement professionals, substance abuse and mental health providers and educators). Children whose parents abuse methamphetamine are often exposed to toxic chemicals, violence, criminal behavior, and neglect as well as physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Many school-aged children in foster care because of parental methamphetamine misuse have high levels of trauma symptoms and behavior problems. Descriptive information on the contexts in which children are reared, participant observation, psychological testing, and in-depth interviews with children, in conjunction with existing research were used to develop and pilot test an intervention — Life Story Intervention — for rural children in foster care because of parent substance misuse.

How to talk with children is of great concern in many fields of professional practice, though conversations have various statuses within different contexts. The discussion of children’s rights to participation emphasized by The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC; United Nations, 1989 ) raises a number of questions about the significance of professional talking practices. A rights-based rationale is just one of many for talking with children. In this article, the question of how to talk with children as well as the question of how to analyze talk with children are addressed. Three possible analytical perspectives on participation and professional conversations are discussed: conversations as means for participation, participation as a theme in conversations, and conversations as a form of participation. The last one is employed in the analyses. To identify and conceptualize challenges in professional talking practices, I argue that a broader participation concept then the one offered in the UNCRC is required. Methodological discussions from research with children are made relevant for the discussion of professional practice. Drawing from empirical examples of 55 audio-recorded and transcribed conversations between child welfare workers and children in the action research project “Talk with us”—Professional practices and children’s participation, selected aspects of professional conversations with children are discussed: negotiating contracts, normative inquiries, and exploring labels. Conversations are analyzed as intergenerational practices, while children and adult professionals are analyzed as differently positioned participants in joint meaning-producing activities. Finally, normativity and the relation between process and result in studies of professional conversations with children are discussed.

This chapter seeks to lay out the interconnection between children’s rights and professional practices within the child protection services. In this effort, it focuses on the constitutionality of human rights, and how they not only regulate professional rights-based practices, but also how rights must shape epistemically how practices are developed. As the focus of the book is on the child’s right to express itself through administrative proceedings, key traits regarding how to understand such a right on street level will be presented.

The integration of mental health services in primary care settings has expanded rapidly in recent years with psychologists being at the forefront of efforts to promote healthy behaviors, reduce disease, and care for behavioral, emotional, and developmental needs to promote overall health and well-being for children and families ( Asarnow, Kolko, Miranda, & Kazak, 2017 ; Stancin & Perrin, 2014 ). While there are many psychologists working in pediatric primary care (PPC), little is known about the specific activities that these psychologists engage in, the training they receive, or funding mechanisms that support their work. This study sought to address this gap in the literature through a survey of psychologists working in PPC. An anonymous online survey was disseminated to members of professional organizations and listservs who were identified as having interest in PPC. Psychologists ( N = 65) currently practicing in PPC completed the survey by reporting on clinical roles and practices, professional training, practice settings, and funding supports in PPC settings. Results indicate that psychologists assume a number of roles in PPC including providing individual and family therapy, conducting screenings for child mental health concerns, and providing consultation to medical colleagues. Many psychologists also provide supervision and offer educational opportunities for those in related fields, such as medicine and social work. Engagement in research activities was identified as a secondary activity. It was reported that a number of clinical activities were not billed for on a regular basis. Additional areas of research will be discussed along with implications for clinical services in PPC.