Growing up protected? Swiss child protection and its children

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Growing up protected?Swiss child protection and
its children

• Realised with the aid of the Swiss National
  Science Foundation, Research Program 52
  Childhood, Youth, and Intergenerational
  Relationships in a Changing Society

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Content

1. Introduction child protection in Switzerland
2. Theory decision making under uncertainty
3. The research project design, methods
4. Results
5. Conclusions

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Some notes on Switzerland
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CP in Switzerland Stakeholders
Voluntary services Mental health services,
Family services and counselling

• Tutelary child protection
• Tutelary authorities,
• child protective services

Penal authorities Police forces, criminal courts,
agencies of prosecution
Specialized organizations Child protection teams,
victim aid agencies, private specialized
agencies
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CP in Switzerland Legal basis

• Art 307 Appropriate measures to protect the child
• Art 308 Educational assistance
• Advice and practical support
• Monitor access
• Parental custody may be restricted accordingly
• Art 309 Determining paternity
• Art 310 Withdrawal of children from parental
  care
• Art 311/312 Withdrawal of parental custody

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Frequency of child protection orders 2004
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Institutions and procedures
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Institutions and procedures
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Theory decision-making under uncertainty

• Two possibly conflicting objectives
• the welfare of the child (his/her future
  development)
• the parents rights
• Incomplete information on
• the future development of the child
• conditions of action (esp. parental behaviour)
• results of action
• ? Decisions of services and authorities are
• decisions under risk
• based on evaluations of values/objectives and
  probabilities

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Methods

• Analysis of dossiersopened from 1994 to 2002,
  stratified random sample within four different
  institutional settings (N164)
• Survey by mailed questionnaire chairpersons of
  tutelary authority and CP-Services (stratified
  random sample, N399)
• Case studiestwo interviews with parents,
  professionals and authority members, in the first
  18 months of an order instituted in 2004 (8
  cases)

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SurveyResults Whose risk?
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SurveyResults Risk and experience
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Analysis of dossiersSampling
Language / Type of authority German French
Professional / Judicial Stadt Ville
Lay people / Administrative Land Campagne
164 cases in four different Settings, stratified
by legal base
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Analysis of dossiersData Structure
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Analysis of DossiersSample Demographics

• 89 boys and 75 girls
• Mean age of 7 years for enactement of first child
  protection order
• 46 of children with one or both parents foreign
  nationals
• At the time of referral 26 of children lived
  with both parents, 62 with a single parent and
  12 (already) out-of-home

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Analysis of dossiers Results Situations of
endangerment
weighted data
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Analysis of dossiers Results Victims overt
behaviour
weighted data
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Analysis of dossiersNumbers of professionals
involved
A total of 3,089 professionals are mentionend in
the dossiers on the 164 cases (Md 15
professionals). The number of professionals is
correlated with- intrusiveness of child
protection order - number of caregiver risks
mentioned- number of victims behavioural
difficulties- the setting
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Analysis of dossiersResults Growing up
protected?
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Analysis of dossiersResults Growing up
protected?
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Analysis of dossiersResults The work of
removing a measure
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Analysis of dossiersResults The larger picture?
weighted data
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Conclusions

1. Professionals in different positions evaluate the
   same risk differently ...
2. ... according to the risk they run.
3. Talking about risk evaluation in child protection
   implies talking about the evaluator.
4. Decisions occur everywhere they are as
   important at the end as they are at the beginning!

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Practice implications

1. Adequate experience for authority members should
   be guaranteed to reduce decision bias.
2. The coordination of the various professionals
   involved in child protection could be improved
   via case management.
3. The opportunities of fixed periodical reviews
   should be expanded to control duration of the
   child within the child protection system.
4. A unification of assessment and mandated services
   improves continuation of services and not least
   helps to preserve scarce ressources.

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The risk of removing a measure

• The only thing you can be held responsible for
  at the end, is not having continued
• Authority, legal assistant of the board