ABSTRACT

Research into children’s voices continues to receive significant attention due to the limited progress made around the world in meeting Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: the right to be heard and participate in decision making. However, there is a paucity of research providing insights into children’s voices in family support services linked with the child protection system. This paper contributes new understandings into the everyday practice experiences of 46 frontline urban and regional practitioners working in family support services for UnitingCare, a nongovernment organisation in Queensland, Australia. Critical and interpretive research utilising WorldCafé focus groups reveals hearing children’s voices is not occurring as an everyday practice. It identified four intersecting influences that prevent rights-based children’s participation: program, conceptual, organisational, and direct practice issues. A sustained paradigm shift to protection with participation is needed to ensure children’s voices are included as an everyday practice in family support services.

IMPLICATIONS

• Culture, program, organisation, and practice level challenges intersect to impede frontline family support services practitioners from hearing children’s voices as an everyday practice.

• A paradigm shift to “protection with participation”, a culture that values children and their voices, alongside steadfast leadership are needed to embed a rights-based, child-inclusive approach in family support services as part of the care continuum.

摘要

由于世界各地在满足《儿童权利公约》第 12 条：发表意见和参与决策的权利方面取得的进展有限，因此对儿童声音的研究继续受到极大关注。然而，很少有研究能够深入了解与儿童保护系统相关的家庭支持服务中儿童的声音。本文为澳大利亚昆士兰州一家非政府组织 UnitingCare 的家庭支持服务工作的 46 名一线城市和地区从业者的日常实践经验提供了新的理解。利用 WorldCafé 焦点小组进行的批判性和解释性研究表明，聆听儿童的声音并不是日常实践。它确定了阻止基于权利的儿童参与的四个交叉影响：计划、概念、组织和直接实践问题。持续的范式转变需要有参与的保护，以确保将儿童的声音作为家庭支持服务的日常做法。

影响

• 文化、项目、组织和实践层面的挑战相互交织，阻碍一线家庭支持服务从业人员将倾听儿童的声音作为日常实践。

• 需要向“参与保护”的范式转变，一种重视儿童及其声音的文化，以及坚定的领导，以在家庭支持服务中嵌入基于权利、儿童包容的方法，作为护理连续体的一部分。