Child protection conferences (CPCs) are multiagency meetings that are central to child protection procedures in the UK. They bring together practitioners, parents and children to consider whether a child has experienced significant harm and, if so, what action is required to protect him or her in future. This article presents findings from a qualitative study of CPCs in two areas in central England which explored the extent to which conferences are ‘child-focused’ events. Data were gathered from audio recordings and documentary analysis of 14 initial and review conferences, 15 interviews with conference staff and six focus groups with 35 practitioners from a range of agencies. A four-part conceptualisation of child-focused practice was used to analyse practice in conferences. Children's participation in CPCs was found to be low, and child-focused decision-making and planning were rarely achieved. The findings emphasise the importance of pre-conference work with children and families, and the central role of the conference chair. These findings are compared to those of the landmark ‘studies in child protection’ research published by the Department of Health almost 26 years ago to determine if improvements in child protection conference practice have occurred.

中文翻译：

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儿童保护会议如何以儿童为中心？

儿童保护会议 (CPC) 是多机构会议，是英国儿童保护程序的核心。他们将从业者、父母和孩子聚集在一起，考虑孩子是否遭受了重大伤害，如果是，未来需要采取什么行动来保护他或她。本文介绍了对英格兰中部两个地区的 CPC 进行的定性研究的结果，该研究探讨了会议在多大程度上是“以儿童为中心”的活动。数据来自 14 次初始会议和审查会议的录音和文件分析、对会议工作人员的 15 次采访以及对来自一系列机构的 35 名从业者的六个焦点小组。以儿童为中心的实践的四部分概念化被用来分析会议中的实践。发现儿童对 CPC 的参与度较低，很少实现以儿童为中心的决策和规划。调查结果强调了会前与儿童和家庭合作的重要性，以及会议主席的核心作用。将这些发现与卫生部近 26 年前发表的具有里程碑意义的“儿童保护研究”研究结果进行比较，以确定儿童保护会议实践是否有所改善。