Children's rights in inter- professional settings: a golden thread or pie in the sky? ESW Seminar Series 18 th October 2010 Margaret Boushel

Research questions 1.How do child welfare professionals working in interprofessional (IP) settings make sense of children’s rights? 2.How do children and parents involved in IP processes make sense of children’s rights? 3.What do these professionals and other participants do about children’s rights? 4.How do these understandings and practices shape and get shaped by IP processes? 5.What are the implications of these understandings and practices for professional education for IP practice?

Focus and design Focus Preventive services provided within the Every Child Matters (ECM) framework for children aged 5-13 in one small town. Design and methodology Iterative design using ethnographic approach, inductive and deductive approach to data analysis.

Data drawn on 2 focus groups with local children and parents who used specialist children’s services. Semi-structured interviews with 39 staff 30 Common Assessment Framework (CAF) records tracked for one year Observations of CAF and related workshops and meetings 2 focus groups with staff to share and discuss initial findings.

Service background and roles of interviewees Directorate of Children and Young People’s Services (CYPS) (13) - family support, social care, early years, YOS, youth services. Education services (14) - primary and secondary school staff (headteachers, learning mentors, pupil support advisors), EWOs. Health services (7) - health visitor managers, school nurse, CAMHS Voluntary sector (5) - children’s, domestic abuse and housing agencies Roles: Third tier service managers, first line managers & CAF chairs, practitioners, workforce development.

Interviewees’ professional qualifications CYPS (13): social work (8), teaching (3), nursing (1), counselling (2), youth & comm.(2), NNEB (2), play (1), other (1). Education (14): teaching (3), learning support (6), nursing (1), counselling (2), youth & comm.(1), play (1), other (3), no qual.(1) Health (7): social work (2), teaching (1), nursing (5), counselling (1), NNEB (1) Vol.sector (5): teaching (1), nursing(1), counselling (1), youth & comm.(1), other (1)

Research in interprofessional settings – reflections on challenges ECM services developing in uncertain way with inconsistent ‘buy-in’. Variety of interprofessional structures– integrated ECM co-ordination but multi-agency provision, provided by services with interprofessional staff groups. Fluid and overlapping service objectives and delivery, e.g. parent support services via all four settings. Multiple professional backgrounds within each service. Within ECM, professions structured on child-age as well as agency boundaries. Mainly lower status professions and para-professions involved.

Children’s rights – themes from the literature Universality of rights UNCRC as ‘guide to living’ and ‘values framework’ (UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Initiative) Children as a rights-bearing group Impact of child’s development and experience Categories of children’s rights Role of adults as rights’ enablers Conflicting rights - parents

The rights of children aged 5-13 The concept of ‘rights’ Individualised perception of rights - most usual Link with children’s ‘responsibilities’ - minority Rights as a universal ‘guide for living’ – very small minority Overlapping discourses – risk, needs, rights Sometimes competing discourses – risk V rights

The rights of children aged 5-13 Children as a rights bearing group Children as a rights-bearing group Children seen as a rights-bearing group – majority Children’s rights essentially the same as adults (4 int.) Children’s rights inseparable from parents’ rights (3 int.) Impact of child’s age/development adult perception of child’s capacity to make informed decisions relevant – all, but differences in practical interpretation around ages etc. Impact of child’s personal experience relevant in assessing competence – a minority

The rights of children aged 5-13 Categories of rights ‘What does children's rights -and children’s rights for 5-13 year olds - mean to you?’ – initial unprompted responses ‘Voice’, being listened to (90%) Being safe, not abused (62%) Physical needs met (54%) Involved in decision-making (46%) Education (38%) Emotional needs met (36%) Enjoying childhood/play (36%) Achieving and fulfilling aspirations (33%) Family life (18%)

The rights of children aged 5-13 Rights’ enablers Role of adults as rights’ enablers Professional responsibilities: protectors, assessors, decision-makers – majority rights enablers – minority

Competing rights parental rights rights of others Other drivers legal responsibilities and legal requirements agency systems and categories The rights of children aged 5-13 Competing rights

The rights of children aged 5-13 Influences on understanding Law and policies ECM mentioned by two thirds Children Act 1989 mentioned by less than a half UNCRC mentioned by one third Human rights legislation - a minority No mention of law or policy - a few Professional education – no or minimal attention to children’s rights Ideas of social justice – for some Personal experience – mainly parenting No common baseline.

Research on children’s rights – reflections on interprofessional challenges Limited shared understanding and shared language of rights Lack of conceptual framework, shared or otherwise Few and variable learning opportunities Concentration on function and agency categorisation Is rights-based practice a ‘threshold concept’ ( Meyer &Land, 2003 in Clouder, 2005 )? ‘Private passions and the public good’ ( Hoggett et al 2006)

The rights of children aged 5-13 Does it matter? The impact of children’s rights on approaches to practice Rights-based practice more likely to be child-centred model rights-respectful behaviours ‘normalise’ rights-based discourse in engaging children, parents and others aim to empower children have height, breadth and length of vision espouse social justice

References Clouder, Level. (2005) ‘Caring as a ‘threshold concept’: transforming students in higher education into health(care) professionals’, Teaching in Higher Education, 10:4, pp DCSF (2008) 2020 Children and Young People’s Workforce Strategy: “Workforce: The Young Voice” Report Summary DCSF (2009) Children’s Plan: Two Years On DCSF (2010) The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: How legislation underpins implementation in England, ionsconventionontherightsofthechild/, accessed 28 th Sept ionsconventionontherightsofthechild/ Hall, Connexions. & Slembrouck, S. (2007) ‘Professional Categorization, Risk management and Inter-Agency Communication in Public Inquiries into Disastrous Outcomes’, British Journal of Social Work, published online October 16, Hoggett, P., Mayo, M. & Miller, Connexions, (2006) ‘Private Passions, the Public Good and Public Service Reform ‘, Social Policy & Administration, 40:7,pp UNICEF (2010) Rights Respecting Schools, information, evaluation and support materials at accessed 28th Sept UNICEF (2010) Every Child Matters: The five Outcomes and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), DCSF website as above. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), DCSF website as above.