Children’s voices in child welfare tribunal proceedings: documentation and weighting of children’s opinions on contact with biological parents after a care order

Abstract

This study aims to provide insights into children’s participation in care order proceedings by examining Norwegian Child Welfare Tribunal decisions from 2018 and 2021. We explored the frequency and form of children’s participation, the weight given to their opinions on contact frequency and the factors influencing these processes. We further examined how discrepancies between the child’s and the municipality’s opinions affected the tribunal’s decisions on contact frequency. Using a repeated cross-sectional design, we analysed 728 tribunal decisions that led to foster care placement. Our findings indicated that older children and girls’ opinions were given more weight, while the opinions of younger children and boys were de-emphasised. Additionally, children’s requests for higher contact frequency were associated with lower weight given to their opinions but higher actual contact frequency granted by the tribunal. We also found that greater discrepancy between the child‘s opinion and the child’s protection opinion, yielded lower contact frequency in the tribunal decision. These findings underscore the need for improved and developmentally sensitive methods to assess and document children’s voices and ensure their perspectives are genuinely considered in decision-making. Addressing these gaps is crucial for upholding children’s rights consistently and fairly in child protection cases.