Clinical Supervision in Child Protection Practice: A Review of the Literature

This article presents findings from a study that investigated child protection policies and practices, and focuses on data gathered in a child protection agency located in Quebec, Canada. This research project draws upon a qualitative case-study methodology, involving a documentary analysis of both national and local child protection policies, as well as semi-structured individual interviews with child protection front-line workers and front-line managers, managers and reviewing officers. Although the dominant pattern that emerged in the data suggests that child protection workers tend to focus on abused women's actions and to blame them for “failing to protect” their children, this article emphasises practices where the research participants had managed to avoid mother-blaming when working with these women. Indeed, the findings suggest that child protection workers can avoid mother-blaming when working with abused women, despite shortfalls in policies, procedures and resources. Such practices include recognising that there are two victims in domestic violence situations, building a trusting relationship, providing emotional and practical support, and balancing risk and safety. These four dimensions are interrelated and they all require a clear identification of domestic violence, as well as a good understanding of the problem and its impacts. To emphasise individual workers’ positive practices with women in domestic violence situations should not be used to minimise the importance of more structural changes in child protection policies and practices. This would include challenging the tendency to focus on women and finding more effective ways to engage with abusive men throughout child protection procedures in order to challenge their violent behaviours. However, it could lead to an approach that is more sensitive to domestic violence and that has the potential to alleviate the workers’ feelings of powerlessness and frustration in relation to their work with families where there has been domestic violence.

While congregations have a spiritual mandate to be open and welcoming, they must be aware of the risks involved in ministry and be prepared to protect children from all types of abuse and neglect. In 2010 and again in 2018, Dove’s Nest, a nonprofit organization, conducted an online survey to determine the characteristics, practices, and experiences of Mennonite Church USA congregations with and without written child protection policies. The research questions for this study were: 1. What are the characteristics, practices, and experiences of congregations in regard to child protection, and how have they changed since 2010? 2. What is the relationship between types of congregations and their child protection practices? 3. What information and resources do congregations want to enhance their child protection practices While improvements were made, especially among congregations without child protection policies, much remains to be done. In particular, improvements are needed among small churches in urban settings. Implications for social work practice are included. Other denominations should conduct similar studies and engage non-English-speaking members. Further research is also needed to discover the prevalence of abuse among church members, and the impact of policies and other practices on the prevention of child abuse.

Child protection practices are measures and interventions intended to safeguard children against violence in school. These practices create safe environments that enable children to thrive. Some of these include the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Child protection agencies’ collaboration is a partnership that supports children’s well-being. This study investigated the contribution of child protection agencies’ collaboration on protection practices in Pre-primary schools in Kira Municipality, which has continued to be challenging. This study was informed by the social capital theory emphasizing the significance of social relationships, trust, and mutuality. The study used a descriptive cross-sectional survey design, and data was collected using quantitative and qualitative tools. These included document analysis checklists, interview guides, observation checklists, and questionnaires. The respondents included headteachers, Centre Management Committee members, parents, Local Council members, and Probation officers. The results indicated that schools rarely collaborated with child protection agencies to ensure that protection practices were implemented in pre-primary schools. In contrast, the probation officers reported that the schools didn’t involve them during the planning, though it was when they would know the areas for collaboration. Four significant recommendations for improving child protection practices are given. Child protection workers need to jointly develop plans that promote child safety and protection, train and build the capacity of educators on issues of child protection, increase resources and financial support to promote child safety and protection, and finally, advocate for laws and policies that promote children’s rights.

Child protection practices are measures and interventions intended to safeguard children against violence in school. These practices create safe environments that enable children to thrive. Some of these include the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Child protection agencies’ collaboration is a partnership that supports children’s well-being. This study investigated the contribution of child protection agencies’ collaboration on protection practices in Pre-primary schools in Kira Municipality, which has continued to be challenging. This study was informed by the social capital theory emphasizing the significance of social relationships, trust, and mutuality. The study used a descriptive cross-sectional survey design, and data was collected using quantitative and qualitative tools. These included document analysis checklists, interview guides, observation checklists, and questionnaires. The respondents included headteachers, Centre Management Committee members, parents, Local Council members, and Probation officers. The results indicated that schools rarely collaborated with child protection agencies to ensure that protection practices were implemented in pre-primary schools. In contrast, the probation officers reported that the schools didn’t involve them during the planning, though it was when they would know the areas for collaboration. Four significant recommendations for improving child protection practices are given. Child protection workers need to jointly develop plans that promote child safety and protection, train and build the capacity of educators on issues of child protection, increase resources and financial support to promote child safety and protection, and finally, advocate for laws and policies that promote children’s rights.

A new age for child protection – General comment 13: Why it is important, how it was constructed, and what it intends?

Do all newly qualified primary‐level teachers report the same experience of child protection practices in their schools? Drawing on findings from a recent Irish study, this paper will consider the operation of official child protection guidelines in schools based on the reported awareness and knowledge of a sample of newly qualified teachers. Their knowledge of child protection guidelines pertains to experience of induction into child protection practices upon taking up employment in the school and their awareness of a designated liaison person, school child protection policy and the procedures for reporting a suspected child protection issue within the school. The findings of this research indicate that schools' compliance with national guidelines on child protection is certainly inconsistent and such an ad hoc approach can be seen to impact on the perceived confidence levels of newly qualified teachers in dealing with child protection issues in the school. Given the crucial role teachers play in the safeguarding of children and the potential for strengthening this role, this paper argues for the standardisation of the operation of child protection procedures across all schools and the provision of training for all school staff. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.‘This paper argues for the standardisation of the operation of child protection procedures’Key Practitioner Message There is a clear need for enhanced, standardised pre‐service and in‐school child protection training. New entrants to the teaching profession should automatically be inducted into the school child protection policy. Schools should have clearly articulated child protection policies and action plans which are consistently communicated to staff on a regular basis. The potential for teachers to promote child welfare and protection should be acknowledged and realised.

New Horizons for the Journal: Familiar Landscapes in Child Protection

Statutory child protection is arguably one of the most complex and challenging areas of work within the welfare sector. In the state of Victoria, Australia, the child protection service is delivered by a state government department, the Department of Human Services, employing over 900 staff. A significant proportion of its recruitment is achieved through employing new graduates from a diverse educational base (e.g. social work, psychology and welfare). This convergence of circumstances, inexperienced workers with a variety of professional education backgrounds, beginning work in a complex, highly scrutinised professional domain, creates a unique challenge for in‐service educators responsible for induction. The ‘Beginning Practice in Child Protection’ programme is an attempt to meet this challenge, employing multi‐modal learning resources, interactive skills based clinics combined with workplace learning opportunities structured to deliver just‐in‐time messages. In addition, on‐line ‘virtual vignettes’ that support learning at the employee workstation are utilised. Evaluation findings suggest this programme is successful in achieving its aims of a supported introduction to the work, increasing worker confidence and satisfaction while leading to quality knowledge and skills acquisition. This paper will establish the context for child protection practice in Victoria, describe the programme designed to address the need, before highlighting key messages arising from an independent evaluation.

ABSTRACTPromoting the participation of children and parents in child protection practice is one of the most complex and sensitive areas of social work practice. Increasingly, child protection legislation and policy in many parts of the world enshrines ideals of service user participation. Yet, with the exception of extensive discussion about family group conferencing, the principles and methods for achieving participatory practices in child protection work remain underdeveloped. We use the term ‘child protection’ to refer to a broad spectrum of child and family welfare services aimed at prevention of (or intervention to address) child abuse and neglect. This spectrum of services includes intensive family support, family support, domestic violence, statutory child protection and child and family advocacy services. In this paper, we present findings from the first phase of a 3‐year study into participatory practice in child protection. In this paper, we present findings from a qualitative analysis of interviews with 28 child protection practitioners across five domains of child protection work. Our analysis reveals three core principles of participatory practice underpinning these practitioners' accounts as well as contextual differences among them. We conclude with a discussion of the educational implications of our findings.

In this article the two authors describe and analyse their experiences of using child abuse inquiries in child protection education with pre-qualifying social work students, over a period of 10 years. The article addresses a range of issues, including the effects of changes in child protection policy and practice; changes in social work education; the cumulative effects of the number of inquiry reports over the past 25 years; use of particular inquiry reports to discuss issues of oppression; the importance of sensitivity to the processes of such teaching and the emotional impact on social work students. The authors, one woman and one man, are both white and in their middle years. Prior to teaching social work, both were in child care and child protection practice for many years. One author's experience of sexist oppression informs particular aspects of the content of this teaching (see article) and both authors' experiences of endeavouring to be aware of, and sensitive to, the needs of social work students as individuals and as groups, has led them to take a particular approach when using child abuse inquiry reports in educating social workers in the complex and contested field of child protection practice.

This article aims to explore the potential contribution of incorporating the Poverty-Aware Paradigm for Child Protection—a critical framework for child protection policy and practice—with public health approaches to protecting children. It focuses on one Israeli social services department that embraced the Poverty-Aware Paradigm as an overarching framework for all levels of practice and specifically in the context of child protection. Based on an in-depth case study of the department’s child protection practice, the findings outline and describe the primary, secondary, and tertiary services and interventions through which the department addresses child maltreatment. These services and interventions are explored in light of Higgins and colleagues’ conceptualization of the six core components of public health approaches to preventing child maltreatment. This exploration points to the compatibly of the two frameworks and suggests three potential contributions of the Poverty-Aware Paradigm to the development of a public health approach. First, it offers a holistic and critical framework that focuses on a multidimensional analysis of child maltreatment and makes it possible to link tertiary responses to primary-level interventions. Second, it provides a firm ethical foundation rooted in a commitment to resisting social oppression and standing by parents, children, and their relationships. Third, it infuses relational concepts and practices into the policy and practice of public health approaches.

Within social work training and practice there is a firm emphasis on anti‐discriminatory practice. At the same time, however, fathers are often marginalized or ignored in child protection practice. In suggesting a framework for practice we argue that it is essential to address the anomaly between the rhetoric and the reality of such practice if we are to provide a coherent child protection service. This paper addresses the limitations of current models of practice and traces the theoretical strands that influence them. It is essential that social work practitioners understand the role terms they use and the aim of engaging fathers. By beginning to unravel the differences between role and gender and unpicking the diverse (but overlapping) dimensions of fatherhood, it is contended that there is no definitive, dominant discourse regarding fatherhood in the same way as there is about motherhood. However, in conceptually recognizing these roles it is suggested that intervention can be planned in a way that explicates the specific aim of engaging men.

This paper is concerned with the co-opting of neuroscientific findings into social work practice with infants at risk of harm. The value of neuroscience to our understanding of infants and infant care remains contested. For ‘infant mental health’ proponents, neuroscientific findings have become a powerful tool in arguing for the importance of nurture and care in the early years. However, critical perspectives question the selective use of neuroscientific evidence, and the impact that the ‘first three years’ agenda has actually had on families. In social work, much of our involvement with very young children is centred around risk. It is also concentrated on children born into families and communities experiencing multiple disadvantages. The emphasis on the vulnerability of infants and very young children has changed child protection social work in significant ways. Many of the children subject to child care and protection measures are very young, or not yet born. This paper draws upon findings from a study which followed families through the process of pre-birth child protection assessment. It is argued that it is necessary to engage critically with the ‘first three years’ narrative that has become dominant in Scottish policy making and the impact this has had on child protection practice and the lives of families. The paper argues for a broader interpretation of ACEs focused on community and public health across the life course.

This paper examines the effects of discourses about participation on child protection practice. The paper critiques the prevalent conceptualizations of participation on the grounds that, often, these ideals have been imported from other disciplines without due regard for the specificities of child protection practice. Initially, the critique is focused on how participatory discourses have resisted adaption to the child protection field. For example, participation and paternalism are often paired dualistically, with the consequence that participation is seen as an unquestionable good, whilst practices that do not conform to this ideal are associated with paternalism and considered to be antithetical to just child protection practice. By examining some of the typical responses, within the child protection literature and amongst child protection professionals, to the prevalent discourses about participation it is argued that these discourses have actually thwarted the development of participatory processes in child protection work. This is because these discourses do not engage with the expectations associated with child protection work, particularly the use of statutory power that such practice demands. The final part of the paper identifies how post-structural theory, particularly the work of Foucault, can highlight and dismantle some of the assumptions about power on which participatory models have rested and allow for the development of a participatory ethos which is receptive to the specificities of child protection work.

Within child care and protection, practitioners can be paralysed by a fundamental gap between the rhetoric and the reality in engaging fathers in their children's care. In an earlier paper we argued that there is a lack of an effective framework to guide practice with fathers in child care and protection work. We examined how health visitors and social workers could begin to assess how fathers could be categorized as either (or both) a risk or an asset to the child. Based on a review of the literature we now explore the limitations of current models of practice and trace the theoretical strands that influence them, drawing from the legal framework, attachment theory and models for anti-oppressive practice. We then highlight messages for practice with fathers for health care professionals involved in child protection. The working context for this paper is Scotland, although we believe that the ideas may be extrapolated to other geographical areas.