Svein Arild Vis

Beyond talking – children's participation in Norwegian care and protection cases

The attempt to give children an effective voice in social work processes which can have substantial impact on their lives takes different forms in countries with varying professional cultures and legal frameworks. This paper reports on a study of childrens participation in decision-making in care and protection services in Norway, which was carried out in conjunction with a project to support social work teams in enabling children to participate, using materials borrowed from England and Wales. The results showed that (a) taking an active part in decision-making did not correlate perfectly with (b) having an influence on the outcome. Cases were therefore classified as ‘participation’ or ‘non-participation’ using a combination of both the above criteria. Statistical analysis of the factors influencing childrens participation enabled the proposition of a model which appeared to explain much of the variance. The results point to the inadequacy of equating social work conversation with children with effective participation in decision-making.

Do frequency of visits with birth parents impact children’s mental health and parental stress in stable foster care settings

Abstract This article explores whether the number of visits by birth parents influence perceptions of attachment, children’s competence and mental health, and stress levels in foster parents. Foster parents acted as informants regarding 203 children living in kinship and non-kinship foster care. The children were young when placed in foster care, on average 2.3 years old (SD = 1.0) and had been living in the foster home for sometime at assessment, 5.4 years (SD = 3.0). Information were collected using validated instruments. The results showed that 47% of the children had monthly or more frequent visits with their mothers, whereas 21% of the fathers had visits this often. Visitations with birth parents did not significantly influence who was the main attachment figure or foster parental attachment relationships, the children’s psychosocial functioning or competence, or stress levels among the foster parents. These findings could indicate that social workers should emphasize the quality and short- and long-term consequences of visits for children when making decisions regarding the frequency of visits with birth parents. This could be done taking the child’s reactions and wishes into account, when evaluating the visit and the frequency of future visits. It is important that decisions concerning visits should be continuously revised in both the short- and the long term, since both wishes and practical aspects may change for all parties involved.

Factors that determine decision making in child protection investigations: A review of the literature

Child & Family Social Work. 2018;23:743–756. Abstract The aim of the studywas to conduct a systematic review of the literature on factors that determine decision making in child protection investigations. More specifically, to investigate the existing research on the 4 factors that are considered fundamental for child protection decision making: case characteristics, caseworker characteristics, organizational characteristics, and external factors. The results indicated that childwelfare decisions to investigate a case and/or to implement services are influenced by characteristics of the case, the social worker, and the organization, in addition to external factors. These elements work together to determine the outcome of an investigation. There are some substantial differences between various countries connected to disparities in child welfare legislation, support apparatuses, culture, ideology, and socio‐economic factors. It is methodologically challenging to design studies that capture all possible variables associated with case factors, social workers, and organizational factors. However, multilevel analyses of the types of variables that are most significant to case outcome conclude that caseworker assessments corresponded to organizational factors. Furthermore, decisions are better explained by characteristics of the child welfare organization than by characteristics of the social worker.

Parenting stress among Norwegian kinship and non-kinship foster parents

Abstract There are several studies conducted on parenting stress, and the conclusion in the parenting stress research literature is generally that parenting stress decreases the quality of the parent-child relationship. There are however few studies on parenting stress comparing kinship homes to ordinary types of foster homes. The aims of this study were to measure parenting stress in kinship and non-kinship foster homes and to explore factors that predict parenting stress related to the child and to their role as foster parents. Results show that kinship-foster parents experienced higher stress related to the parent domain i.e. depression and relationship problems with the spouse. This was associated with kinship foster parents being of older age and receiving fewer social support services. Non-kinship foster parents experienced higher parenting stress related to the child domain i.e. child’s acceptability and adaptability in the family. This was associated with children in non-kinship foster homes having higher internalising and externalising mental health problems. The implications are that different types of support are needed for kinship foster parents and non-kinship foster parents. More differentiated support for foster parents may help prevent parenting problems and increase placement permanency.