This article explores children’s views and experiences of participation within the context of child protection assessment practice. The findings of this study enable child protection workers as well as other professionals to learn from children, what is needed to better engage children to participate in matters affecting them. A small-scale study included 14 children registered as children in need of assistance in child protective services from one region in Estonia through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Findings indicate that children’s experiences and memories of their first contact with the child protection worker varied extensively. Some of the children had no experience talking to a child protection worker personally, meaning their voices were not expressed, heard, or considered in the decision-making process. Communication was lacking in the dialogue, and no deep conversations about family life, interventions, children’s needs, wishes, or hopes were reported. A lack of communication tended to be mainly part of younger children’s experiences. Based on models of children’s participation from the literature, contextual elements are proposed to enhance the active child participation process in child protection—child-centredness and inclusiveness. Implications for practice and future research are discussed with a focus on meaningful child participation.

中文翻译：

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参与儿童保护评估：来自爱沙尼亚儿童的声音

本文探讨了儿童在儿童保护评估实践背景下参与的观点和经验。这项研究的结果使儿童保护工作者和其他专业人员能够向儿童学习，了解需要什么才能更好地让儿童参与影响他们的事务。一项小规模研究通过深入的半结构化访谈，对来自爱沙尼亚一个地区的 14 名登记为需要儿童保护服务援助的儿童进行了调查。调查结果表明，儿童与儿童保护工作者第一次接触的经历和记忆千差万别。有些儿童没有亲自与儿童保护工作者交谈的经验，这意味着在决策过程中没有表达、听到或考虑他们的声音。对话中缺乏沟通，也没有关于家庭生活、干预、儿童需求、愿望或希望的深入对话。缺乏沟通往往是年幼儿童经历的主要部分。基于文献中的儿童参与模型，提出了语境元素来加强儿童保护中的积极儿童参与过程——以儿童为中心和包容性。讨论对实践和未来研究的影响，重点是有意义的儿童参与。提出了上下文要素，以加强儿童积极参与保护儿童的进程——以儿童为中心和包容性。讨论对实践和未来研究的影响，重点是有意义的儿童参与。提出了上下文要素，以加强儿童积极参与保护儿童的进程——以儿童为中心和包容性。讨论对实践和未来研究的影响，重点是有意义的儿童参与。