Children’s participation in the child protection system : are young people from poor families less likely to be heard?

Lätsch, David; Quehenberger, Julia; Portmann, Rahel; Jud, Andreas

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106762

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-27187

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Children’s participation in the child protection system : are young people from poor families less likely to be heard?
Authors:	Lätsch, David Quehenberger, Julia Portmann, Rahel Jud, Andreas
et. al:	No
DOI:	10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106762 10.21256/zhaw-27187
Published in:	Children and Youth Services Review
Volume(Issue):	145
Issue:	106762
Issue Date:	2023
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0190-7409
Language:	English
Subjects:	Kindesschutz; Partizipation; Sozialhilfe; Kinderrechte; Kinder- und Jugendhilfe
Subject (DDC):	362.7: Youth services
Abstract:	Decisions in child protection affect children’s and young people’s lives substantially and sustainably. For young people to participate in these decisions is an ethical requirement, prominently coded in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Although awareness of the importance of child participation and research thereon have grown, predictors of child participation have not been formalized in a conceptual model and studies on the topic have primarily relied on narrative accounts or fictional vignettes rather than actual case data. This article addresses the lack of conceptual modeling by presenting an approach that takes into account three domains of downstream predictors on the degree of child participation in the decision-making process of a child protection case: (a) External constraints; (b) professionals’ willingness and ability to facilitate the child’s participation; (c) the child’s willingness and ability to participate. It further addresses the lack of actual case data in child participation research, focusing on the understudied predictor of family poverty. Analyses are based on a sample of case files of n = 264 children in five Swiss CPS agencies. Outcomes and predictors were extracted from case files with a predefined coding system. Findings suggest that the raised awareness has so far not fully trickled down to an increase in real-life opportunities of participation for young people: The child’s subjective view was documented in the case worker’s report half of the time (48.9 %). Corroborating previous evidence, adolescents were much more likely to have their views included than younger children (OR = 3.715, p =.002). Case workers were less inclined to include the child’s views if the child came from a poor family (OR = 0.326, p =.003). We conclude by suggesting options for improving child participation, highlighting that protection of young people does not have to contradict participation.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/27187
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	CC BY 4.0: Attribution 4.0 International
Departement:	Social Work
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Childhood, Youth and Family (IKJF)
Published as part of the ZHAW project:	Standardisierte Abklärung im Kindesschutz: Effekte auf Prozesse und Entscheidungen
Appears in collections:	Publikationen Soziale Arbeit

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Lätsch, D., Quehenberger, J., Portmann, R., & Jud, A. (2023). Children’s participation in the child protection system : are young people from poor families less likely to be heard? Children and Youth Services Review, 145(106762). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106762

Lätsch, D. et al. (2023) ‘Children’s participation in the child protection system : are young people from poor families less likely to be heard?’, Children and Youth Services Review, 145(106762). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106762.

D. Lätsch, J. Quehenberger, R. Portmann, and A. Jud, “Children’s participation in the child protection system : are young people from poor families less likely to be heard?,” Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 145, no. 106762, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106762.

LÄTSCH, David, Julia QUEHENBERGER, Rahel PORTMANN und Andreas JUD, 2023. Children’s participation in the child protection system : are young people from poor families less likely to be heard? Children and Youth Services Review. 2023. Bd. 145, Nr. 106762. DOI 10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106762

Lätsch, David, Julia Quehenberger, Rahel Portmann, and Andreas Jud. 2023. “Children’s Participation in the Child Protection System : Are Young People from Poor Families Less Likely to Be Heard?” Children and Youth Services Review 145 (106762). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106762.

Lätsch, David, et al. “Children’s Participation in the Child Protection System : Are Young People from Poor Families Less Likely to Be Heard?” Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 145, no. 106762, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106762.