Participation of children in child protection investigations: Views and experiences of Dutch professionals

Participation in child protection investigations is a right for all children and can be beneficial for the outcomes of child protection trajectories. Professionals play an important role in facilitating participation for children. Therefore, this study investigates professionals’ views on and experiences with children’s participation by interviewing 31 professionals who conduct child protection investigations. Thematic analysis shows how professionals’ views on children’s participation in child protection investigations are related to their experiences with facilitating and challenging factors on three levels of the context they work in: the level of direct interaction with children and parents, the organizational level of their work environment, and the level of the wider CPS. These results show the link between professionals’ views and attitudes and the contextual factors and can be used for evaluating and improving children’s participation in child protection practice