(UNICEF, 2013).
The orientations of the child protection systems of Norway and the US differ. The Norwegian child protection system is considered a ‘family service’ system, and the US system is ‘protection-oriented’ (Berrick Duerr, 2011; Gilbert et al, 2011; Skivenes, 2011).10 The differences between the two systems lie in the values underpinning them, and the way in which they approach children at risk. The main approach of family service systems is a preventative one; the child protection system seeks to provide universal public services to prevent more serious harm and prevent children’s out-of-home placements. The Norwegian Child Welfare Act (Articles 4–12) stipulates that services to families must be offered first, or there must be evidence that they will not be useful, before a child can be removed (Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion, 2017). Children tend to be older in Norway than in the US before they are removed, but the proportion of children living in care is higher in Norway than in the US (Skivenes, 2011; Gilbert et al, 2011).
The US child protection system is oriented towards intervention once there is serious risk of harm to a child. The underlying normative principles of the US child protection system are the child’s safety, permanency (continuity of care and connectedness for the child), and child and family well-being (Goldman et al, 2003; Berrick Duerr, 2011). These normative legal foundations were mainly established by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 1974 (CAPTA) (PL 93–247) and the Adoption and Safe Families Act 1997 (ASFA) (PL 105–89). Public child protection agencies in the US focus on investigating child abuse and neglect in a legalistic, adversarial and often standardized manner after the event, allowing for less professional discretion than in Norway (Berrick Duerr, 2011). Decisions are made expeditiously to protect a child from imminent risk of harm. Once child maltreatment is reported to the telephone hotline in California, for example, a child protection worker must assess the danger to the child speedily. If the child is in imminent danger, then a worker must investigate the case within two hours. If the situation is not an emergency, then the time frame for the investigation is up to 10 calendar days (Berrick Duerr, Peckover, Pösö & Skivenes, 2015). According to Berrick Duerr, Peckover, Pösö and Skivenes (2015, pp 371–2)
[t]he investigation/assessment process can take up to 30 days. Once a decision is made to take temporary custody of a child, the child is removed by the child protection worker … followed by a presentation of evidence to court within 48 hours in order to sustain custody, and further evidence must be presented to court within 30 days to detain a child longer and/or to impose a care plan for services.
Child maltreatment is prevented in Norway by targeting families in need of assistance through public services (Skivenes, 2011). The threshold for intervention is low in Norway compared to the US (Skivenes and Stenberg, 2015; Skivenes and Søvig, 2017). The time frame to complete an investigation in Norway is three months (six months in special circumstances) (Berrick Duerr, Peckover, Pösö & Skivenes, 201).
Children’s participation in law, policy and practice
In Norway, the participation of children is firmly anchored in national law. In the US, which has not ratified the United Nations CRC, it mainly rests on state law and professional social work guidelines and practices within a child protection agency. Children in Norway have had strong formal rights as participants enshrined in law since the country signed the CRC in 1989. Norway turned the CRC into national law in 1991, explicitly using it as a platform to draft legislation about child welfare in Norway (Vis et al, 2012; Bårdsen, 2015; Berrick Duerr, Peckover, Pösö & Skivenes, 2015). The views of children aged seven and older must be considered in child protection in Norway (Vis et al, 2012; Berrick Duerr, Peckover, Pösö & Skivenes, 2015; Skivenes and Søvig, 2017). This is how the Child Protection Act 1992 (Lov om Barneverntjenster) formulates children’s participatory rights related to age in Section 6.3:
A child who has reached the age of 7, and a younger child who is capable of forming his or her own opinions, shall receive information and be given an opportunity to state his or her opinion before a decision is made in a case affecting him or her. Importance shall be attached to the opinion of the child in accordance with his or her age and maturity. A child may appear as a party in a case and exercise his or her rights as a party if he or she has reached the age of 15 and understands the subject-matter of the case. The county social welfare board [the body that makes care order decisions] may grant a child under the age of 15 rights as a party in special cases. In a case concerning measures for children with behavioural problems or measures for children who may be at risk of human trafficking, the child shall always be regarded as a party.
Children who are 15 or older become parties in a case and may be appointed a lawyer (Berrick Duerr, Dickens, Pösö & Skivenes, 2015; Berrick Duerr, Peckover, Pösö & Skivenes, 2015). Children 12 years and older must be heard in decisions about guardianship when a caregiver who is responsible for a child loses guardianship (Ministry of Children and Equality, 2016, p 23). Children younger than 15 years are invited to plan their care. The definition of children’s best interests in the Child Welfare Act 1992 (Section 4.1) was amended in 2013 to specifically include children’s participation in child protection with the help of an adult the child trusts:
When applying the provisions of this chapter, decisive importance shall be attached to finding measures which are in the child’s best interests. This includes attaching importance to giving the child stable and good contact with adults and continuity in the care provided.
The child shall be given the opportunity to participate and steps shall be taken to facilitate interviews with the child. Children who have been taken into care by the child welfare service may be given the opportunity to be accompanied by a person whom the child particularly trusts. The Ministry may make further regulations regarding participation and regarding the duties and function of persons of trust. (Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion, 2017, p 13)
Since 2003, when the Human Rights Act was passed, the CRC has had primacy over any other national legislation in Norway (Bårdsen, 2015). As part of the Constitutional reform process from 2013 to 2014, a new article, Article 104, was introduced. It enshrines children’s participatory rights in the Constitution (Bårdsen, 2015). The article reflects several policy principles found in Norwegian child protection legislation: a child’s participation (depending on age and maturity), a child’s best interests, protection and safety, material well-being, and family preservation.
Children in the US do not enjoy similarly strong formal rights to participation (Skivenes, 2015). This begins with the Constitution of the US, which does not mention children or families (Woodhouse, 1992). At the federal level, the 2006 amendment of the Social Security Act (Social Security Act, 2006) requires that children 16 years and older be consulted about their permanency or transition plans in court or administrative hearings, but practices vary by state (Social Security Act, 2006; Weisz et al, 2011; Barnes et al, 2012). The state of California, where the interviews for this study were conducted, has introduced its own legislation regarding children’s age and participation in court: if children ten years and older do not attend their court hearing in California, the judge will inquire whether the child had the chance to appear in court (Advokids, 2018). All children are assigned an attorney who represents them in court (Berrick Duerr et al, 2018). Children who attend hearings in juvenile court may work with a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). A CASA is a trained lay person who volunteers to assist the child to get their wishes heard in court (Berrick Duerr, Dickens, Pösö & Skivenes, 2015).
The US has a decentralized child protection system. Each state interprets and implements federal child protection laws and regulations differently. Child protection is administered at the county level in California (Berrick Duerr, 2011; Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2018). In Norway, the municipalities are responsible for undertaking child protection work. They are tasked with providing services in the home when a child requires assistance and applying for out-of-home services when in-home services do not work or are inappropriate. The 12 county
