Child Participation in Decision-Making: Qualitative Research into Views and Experiences of Foster Children and Professionals

Abstract

This master's thesis presents the findings of qualitative research among 10 foster children and adolescents (6-20 years) and four professionals in foster care in the Netherlands. It aims to explore how foster youth and professionals in foster care experience participation according to Article 12 of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child and what opportunities for improvement they formulate in this regard. Whilst children and professionals in this study indicated that it is important for children to have a say in decisions that affect children's lives, the extent to which this occurred was limited. In general, among professionals, the age of children played a large role in whether they are involved in the decisions made about their lives. In addition, it appeared that lack of time and high workload hindered children's participation. Children and youth in this study expressed frustration that they were sometimes not listened to or that they were not informed until after a decision was made. Listening was also about having conversations with professionals; for example, the children in this study preferred to have conversations about their future rather than their past or about how they are doing rather than what happened. The children and youth also expressed frustration at constantly having to deal with different professionals to whom they constantly had to retell their story. Of the suggestions for improvement, the most important were to encourage asking children (regardless of age) for their opinions, promote informing children before decisions are made, encourage being honest with children about their situation (do not talk around the truth), and let children decide what they want to talk about.