Risk or opportunity? Child protection workers' perceptions of children's participation in the protection system

Background: Over the last decade, children's right to participation in the child protection system has received considerable professional and researcher attention. Child protection workers (CPW) are key in facilitating children's participation in this system. Nevertheless, studies consistently show they find it difficult to implement the right to participation in their practice. Objectives: The current study examines the perceptions and practices of child protection social workers regarding children's participation, with special emphasis on the assessment and investigation phase. Specifically, the study addresses the issue of talking with children in this initial phase of the intervention. Method: Ninety-four CPWs were examined using both closed- and open-ended questions. Results: First, the study identified some crucial barriers to children's participation in the child protection system in general, and regarding the assessment and investigation phase in particular. Second, a relationship between the perceptions of the CPWs and the implementation of children's right to participate in practice was found. Specifically, the more the workers had negative perceptions of children's participation, the less likely they were to talk to the child in the assessment and investigation phase. Conclusions: These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for educating child protection social workers on the importance of child participation in practice.