‘They didn't tell me anything; they just sent me home’: children's participation in the return home

Abstract

The reality of child protection systems typically demonstrates a lack of attention to the voices of children. There are studies that confirm this fact and offer evidence of the benefits of participation, but gaps remain regarding the elements and processes that favour it. This qualitative study attempts to contribute to knowledge in this area through a detailed analysis of the perspectives of the actors involved and the role that children play in the return home. This article analyses the elements involved in the participation of the children when a return home is proposed after a period of family or residential foster care. As part of the study, 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted and 22 discussion groups were created with a total of 135 participants (63 child protection services workers, 42 parents and 30 children and adolescents). The data were analysed using a content analysis process and underwent a peer reviewprocess in Atlas.ti. The results indicate that the participation of children and adolescents in the return home centres around (i) understanding the return home, (ii) strategies and emotional processes and (iii) social support.

This study was developed by the investigation group GRISIJ (Research Group for Social- Educational Interventions in Infancy and Adolescence) and financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (EDU2011-30144-C02-01 and EDU2014-52921-C2-1-R), the Department of Innovation, Universidades y Empresa of the Generalitat of Cataluña (2009SGR1392 Consolidated Projects), the University of Barcelona (ARCE) and the University of Lleida.