Challenges of participation in child welfare

The intention of this article is to discuss conditions for developing participatory relationships with children in child welfare services (CWS). In recent years, child protection and CWS have seen a growth of interest in children's participation, but research shows that children often do not participate when their families are in contact with the CWS. Participatory practice tends to be more messy and complicated than the policy rhetoric suggests. Discussion about the reasons for lack of children's participation has mostly been related to the social worker's competence or willingness to involve children in participatory practice. In our research, we have found that social workers are interested in involving children in participation, but that they often meet with organisational structures and material design of offices that represent barriers to children's participation, for example, to children's access to information and help, and to the development of relationships with children over time. In this article, we will discuss how organisational structures and routines, and material design, present challenges for implementing participatory practices in child welfare, and what will create appropriate conditions for children's participation.