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The article emphasizes that in order to improve the protection of children's rights during military conflicts and combat domestic violence, to identify facts of domestic violence against children, to improve and unify the forms of collecting, analyzing, summarizing and taking into account statistical data on cases of all forms of violence based on gender and domestic violence and the effectiveness of measures taken in these cases. Domestic violence is one such phenomenon that only worsens in the period of military aggression, while it can remain invisible or have an inadequate level of response from society due to many reasons. The problem of domestic violence is not new. This is especially true for children and teenagers. However, just as before the war, so now, children who are witnesses of domestic violence are not always recognized as victims. They are recognized as victims only if physical violence was directly directed against the child. Which, after all, a child who has witnessed domestic violence is obviously wrong, because the child who has witnessed domestic violence has at least already been harmed, in particular to his mental health. Different statistical forms in the subjects of prevention and counteraction to domestic violence, as well as their failure to take into account the features of today's global challenges, make it impossible to qualitatively analyze data on the effectiveness of the system of prevention and counteraction to domestic violence / gender-based violence and lead to a lack of comprehensive scientific research on the impact of the pandemic and war on the situation of domestic violence / gender-based violence. At the same time, it is important to take into account in statistical forms vulnerable categories of affected persons, such as women, children, persons with disabilities, for the purpose of further analysis of such information and formation of effective assistance programs for such categories of persons based on the received data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Design, setting and participants Measurements Findings Conclusions To measure the association of harmful alcohol use by parents and primary caregivers with the level of child protection response.This study was a multivariable logistic regression analysis using data drawn from the Victorian child protection database (2012–21) in Victoria, Australia. Focusing upon the most recent case per child, we analysed whether harmful parental alcohol use was probably associated with children‘s progression throughout the child protection system (from investigation phase, to substantiation, through to protective intervention, protection application and protection orders), while adjusting for socio‐demographic variables. The participants comprised 352 800 children [48.5% female, 50.0% male, 1.6% other/unknown; mean age = 8.1 (0–18 years)] with one or more reports (mean = 1.4) in the child protection system.Child protection workers reported on two risk factor variables indicating parental alcohol use during an intake risk assessment: ‘alcohol abuse‘ and ‘alcohol use compromises child‘s safety‘.Of the 95 592 child cases investigated between 2012 and 2021, 50 476 were substantiated. Probable parental alcohol use was reported as a risk factor in 5.1% of children investigated and substantiated in 9.1% of children. The odds of progressing to investigation [odds ratio (OR) = 1.64, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.59, 1.69, P < 0.001], substantiation (OR = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.91, 2.13, P < 0.001), protective intervention (OR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.23, 1.59, P < 0.001), protection application (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.08, 1.25, P < 0.001) and protection order (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.02, 1.34, P = 0.028) were statistically significantly higher for children experiencing probable parental harmful alcohol use. However, the associations for protection application and protection order were not statistically significant after accounting for variables related to family accommodation, income and composition.In Victoria, Australia, in cases where child protection workers document parental alcohol use, those children are more likely to progress through the Victorian child protection system than children whose parents have no documented alcohol use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis paper reports on interviews with 30 individuals from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, or South Sudan, all of whom had resettled in South Australia. Participants were interviewed about their experiences with and perceptions of child protective services. Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in the development of themes focused on fears of removal, child protection as a threat to families, child protection staff as uncaring, as well as themes focused on both negative and positive experiences with the removal of children. In applying Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological approach, the paper concludes by exploring opportunities for change in child protection systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Like in most African countries, community leaders (including clan and family heads) in rural communities in Ghana undertake core child protection duties, including facilitating kinship placements, resolution of child maltreatment and trafficking issues, and spearheading community‐wide education programmes. The child protection activities carried out by community leaders are legitimized and sanctioned in the child welfare legislation of African countries, such as the Child and Family Welfare Policy in Ghana. As the role of the community leaders is being regularized and legitimized in most African countries, it has become necessary to understand how the child protection activities of these community leaders are supervised, regulated, and monitored by professional child protection workers. Through in‐depth narrative interviews with 12 community leaders in two rural communities in Ghana, this study explored community leaders' motivations for undertaking child protection practices, and how their child protection activities are supervised and monitored by professional child protection workers. The findings revealed child protection workers utilize training of trainers' programmes, and stakeholder policy engagements as supervision mechanisms to monitor the child protection duties of the community leaders. The study findings highlight key gaps in the monitoring and supervision duties performed by professional child protection workers, including (1) the lack of coordinated structure and framework for monitoring, and (2) the limited focus on outcome in monitoring. Implications for child protection practice have been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Holistic competence involves two distinct constructs: procedural competencies and metacompetencies A framework developed by Tufford and colleagues (2017), suggests four domains of metacompetence: skills in action, deepened perspectives on diversity, managing affective intensity in the moment, and openness to learning. This exploratory evaluation study was guided by the research question, in what ways does Illinois child welfare simulation training address the four domains of metacompetence? Findings indicted that relevant knowledge and skill development for each domain are supported in the training. More nuanced evaluation could better assess procedural and metacompetence and more fully operationalize holistic competence for child welfare professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: An emerging field of research seeks to understand the experiences of non-offending adults who experience sexual attraction towards children. Research indicates that this largely hidden population can experience significant mental ill health and suicidal ideation, yet are reluctant to seek professional mental health support. Furthermore, mental ill health has been identified as a factor that can increase the likelihood of offending. This study, undertaken by a social work practitioner researcher, aimed to assist in understanding suicidality factors within this population, and to identify how statutory mental health services could be developed for this client group, thus contributing to child protection and suicide prevention agendas. A qualitative analysis was undertaken of data gathered from an online forum used by adults who have sexual attraction towards children, and are committed to non-offending. The data related to forum members' experiences of suicidality, and key themes were identified through thematic analysis. Findings: The study found that a pattern of suicidal ideation commonly appears to manifest and identified risk and protective factors that can influence suicidality. The benefits of peer support and the strengths and limitations of professional support were also identified. Applications: The findings from this study contribute to an improved understanding of this client group for mental health practitioners. The findings also lay the foundation for further investigations, to inform the development of mental health services to facilitate improved outcomes for this client group, and for child protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents with intellectual disabilities face many challenges when coming into contact with child protection systems. This article, written by a parent with an intellectual disability and her allies, looks at what the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (the Commission) had to say about the topic. Examining the Final Report of the Commission and drawing upon the testimony of an Aboriginal mother with an intellectual disability, the authors agree with the Commission that urgent action is needed to address the over-representation of First Nations Australian families who have a parent with a disability in Australian child protection systems. However, the Commission also needed to pay attention to the needs of all parents with disabilities, and in particular, parents with intellectual disabilities. Child protection systems need to move away from judgemental and punitive responses to all parents with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the response of the Disability Royal Commission (the Commission) to the experiences of the estimated 21,000 Australian parents with intellectual disabilities and their children. Research shows that interlocking complex social disadvantage and ableist professional attitudes toward parenting by people with intellectual disabilities persist, leading to very high rates of child protection and child removal. The approach taken by the Commission to examination of violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation against parents with disabilities as a group led to the invisibility of parents with intellectual disabilities within the Final Report. The life course approach was narrowly conceived and did not fully capture reproductive justice across the life course. The issue of parenting and child protection contact was primarily considered in relation to First Nations families, which brought critical attention to some aspects of systemic violence and abuse, but issues and experiences of non-Indigenous parents with intellectual disabilities were absent. We argue that these and other flaws prevented the Commission from making important recommendations in relation to legal and policy reform to uphold the rights of people with intellectual disabilities to become parents and to receive the support they need for parenting over the life course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the conceptualization of cultural responsivity in Australian child protection through the critical Whiteness theory lens. Critical discourse analysis was deployed to examine the cultural responsivity concept in two statutory child protection documents from New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Interrogating the underlying assumptions present in the texts, the study demonstrated a narrow categorization of who is deemed 'culturally diverse' and a problematic conceptualization of cultural responsivity. We argue that these texts maintain Whiteness as the unexamined cultural norm and can reinforce the 'Othering' effect and racial disproportionality in the child protection system. We conclude with a call to practitioners to remain critical of the widely accepted concepts that inform their practice, such as cultural responsivity to avoid reinforcing racial inequality through their practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to identify and report child abuse and neglect at schools plays a significant role in protecting children and reducing the consequences of violence and abuse. This research examines how preschool teachers identify and report child abuse and neglect by focusing on their knowledge and skills in available preventions and interventions. The study sample included 25 preschool teachers from both public and private kindergartens in Türkiye. Thematic analysis was conducted on the interventions around child abuse and neglect using semi-structured interviews. The thematic analysis revealed three themes: (a) challenges in protecting children; (b) being able to identify neglect and abuse; and (c) contributing factors in child protection. Many participants demonstrated an ability to identify the consequences of child abuse and neglect. Key barriers to protecting children were the teachers' difficulties in reporting abuse, struggles within the school environment, parents' normalization of violence and abuse and resistance to changing their behaviors toward children. Based on these findings, a multilevel intervention approach was recommended to address child abuse and neglect in school settings, emphasizing the need for coordinated responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High child protection caseworker turnover diminishes care quality. While burnout is acknowledged, the impact of protective factors is unclear. This study examines caseworkers' burnout, individual resilience's protective role, and strategies for curbing turnover and preserving work-life balance. Results indicate that personal, work, and client-related subscales correlate highly. The moderating effect of resilience on burnout was significant yet marginal. Maintaining boundaries was the primary core theme reported in relation to strategies to maintain work-life balance. The results of this study highlight potentially modifiable factors likely to reduce caseworker turnover. Findings support the need for a collective re-evaluation of resilience as an individual responsibility to something that can be supported and fostered within the workplace for increasing employee retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The infants of women with histories of problematic alcohol and other drug use are among the most vulnerable children known to statutory child protection services, which they enter at a younger age, and in which they remain longer. The net results include overwhelmed child protection systems and the birth of subsequent children conceived to ease women's grief at the loss their infants. Without adequate and appropriate support to the mother and her family, the pattern repeats. Obstetric services have an important role to play in the assessment of risk and protective factors in the perinatal period and in determining pathways to service provision. A comprehensive assessment considers the availability and quality of informal support prior to activation of formal systems of support, both statutory, where engagement is mandated, and non‐statutory, where support is offered on a voluntary basis. This paper uses quantitative methods to explore the social networks of women with problematic substance use in the transition to motherhood and the relationship between formal and informal support systems and infant outcomes. Surveys were held with two counsellors from the Women's Alcohol and Drug Service (WADS), a specialist obstetric clinic in Melbourne, Australia, and with 18 child protection workers. In addition, the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire (Norbeck, 1984; Norbeck et al., 1983) was administered with 20 participating mothers to measure levels of formal and informal support, as well as the type and quality of support available to mothers over a 12‐month period, and to consider the provision of social support against known outcomes for infants. The findings demonstrate that WADS counsellors made several referrals for most women but that there was little in the way of long‐term follow‐up by non‐statutory service providers, with most women experiencing a dramatic drop in support over the 12‐month period. Women whose main informal support was from a domestically violent partner, and those who had been in out‐of‐home care in their own childhood, were particularly vulnerable to losing the care of their infant. The role of child protection varied markedly across the 12‐month period, particularly in relation to the extent that a relationship between formal and informal systems of support for mothers and their infants could be established. Overall, the study findings demonstrate that mothers experienced diminishing formal and informal support over time and that the quality of social support available to the mother was more important in terms of outcomes for women and their infants than the quantity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the evolution of Child Protective Services (CPS) from a system focused on investigating serious abuse to one that provides social services to impoverished families. Topics include the impact of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 on family support, various CPS reform initiatives aimed at assisting vulnerable families and the relation between Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) policies and increased cases of child neglect.

This paper addresses the issues related to highlighting the problems that arise when protecting children who have suffered or witnessed violence, as well as providing them with social and psychological support in the justice process. The author emphasises the need to engage highly qualified professionals when implementing the Barnahus pilot project in Ukrainian cities. The factors that contribute to the resolution of current obstacles in creating a child-friendly environment for child victims of violence, in which they are not only considered victims, but where they can feel safe, especially in today's environment, are considered. Translated with DeepL.com (free version) The article describes the Council of Europe's strategy for the rights of the child for 2022-2027, entitled "Children's rights in action: from sustainable implementation to joint innovation", which defines six strategic objectives aimed at addressing new problem areas. The activities of the pilot project "Safety Educator" and current legislative initiatives aimed at changing approaches and the dynamics of implementing new successful projects and methods of protecting children's rights are analysed, and attention is focused on the need to improve the professional approach of specialists when establishing contact with a child. The expediency of conducting a medical examination of a child immediately at the scene of the incident using methods suitable for children, with the involvement of medical professionals, and the initiative to form a register of psychologists for the needs of effective interaction with child victims of violence in accordance with the "Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 18 December 2018 No. 1027-r 'On Approval of the National Strategy for Reforming the Justice System for Children for the Period up to 2023'". It is proposed to study in detail the results of the Bamahus model in European countries, as well as to ensure that the interview with the child victim is conducted as early as possible and at the appropriate time by professionals who have undergone special training, and the need to further increase the number of Barnahus child support centres in Ukraine is identified. The author discusses the effectiveness of Bamahus centres, which bring together a number of professionals under one roof, including social workers, psychologists, medical professionals and law enforcement officials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundMethodResultsConclusionParental intellectual disability is considered a risk factor for child removal internationally. In New South Wales, Australia, authorised clinicians are court appointed experts who assess parenting and cognitive capacity in child protection matters.This study examined a sample of 20 assessment orders requesting parenting capacity and cognitive capacity assessments and corresponding authorised clinician reports.Authorised clinicians were requested to assess whether parental intellectual disability and cognitive impairment posed the risk of harm to children. Clinicians assessed parents as either “able with support” or “unable” to provide adequate care to their child.Our findings highlight the law’s conceptualisation of risk, parenting capacity, and cognitive impairment in binary terms (i.e., risk or no risk, able or unable), which in turn limits casework planning and clinicians’ framing of parents’ abilities. We provide recommendations to improve fair and equitable assessment processes for parents with cognitive difficulties, as well as access to timely and appropriate services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns have been raised regarding misconceptions about attachment theory in child protection settings, but the application of attachment concepts in judicial child protection decisions has not been systematically explored. This study therefore examined the perception and application of attachment concepts in Swedish judicial decision protocols concerning involuntary removals of children (aged 0–2 years) where emotional neglect was a notable concern (n=28). Attachment concepts were frequently misunderstood, and imprecisely articulated. Unsystematic observations of child behavior were used to infer attachment insecurity and, by extrapolation, caregiving deficiencies. Attachment concepts were primarily used to support child removal, and insecure attachment seemed to be viewed as meeting the legally required level of risk to warrant involuntary child out–of–home placement. Our results indicate that misconceptions about attachment theory may be prevalent in judicial decision protocols. We emphasize the need to elaborate on risks in legally relevant ways without incorrect appeals to attachment theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Promising evidence supports the effectiveness of edutainment interventions in shifting norms to prevent violence against women and girls and other harmful practices, yet further research into mechanisms and pathways of impact is needed to inform intervention development, delivery and scale-up. This exploratory qualitative evaluation examined the feasibility and indications of change in attitudes, beliefs, norms and behaviours following the broadcast of a radio drama aired to prevent age-disparate transactional sex in Kigoma, Tanzania. Methods: Over seven weeks, six episodes were broadcast on local radio weekly, between November and December 2021 in Kigoma, targeting adolescent girls (aged 13–15 years) and their caregivers. Reflection sessions were conducted twice a week with 70 girls across seven schools, supplemented by after-school Girls' Club listening sessions for a subgroup of 30 girls. We conducted seven before and after focus group discussions, five with girls (n = 50), one with men caregivers (n = 9) and one with women caregivers (n = 9) and analysed them using thematic and framework analysis approaches. Results: Overall, we found that while girls exhibited significant engagement with the drama, caregiver participation, particularly among men, was low. Thus, no clear changes were detected in men. We did not find any differences in impact based on listening sessions' attendance vs. home listening. We detected positive changes among girls and women in four thematic areas after listening to the drama: (1) participant's increasingly challenged perceptions about what kinds of girls and men take part in age-disparate transactional sex, what can be exchanged, and men's motivations for engaging; (2) there was a shift from attributing blame for age-disparate transactional sex relationships from girls to men; (3) girl's reported increased agency and confidence to avoid age-disparate transactional sex relationships; and (4) we found a heightened sense of responsibility and recognition for the role of parents, peers and community members in preventing age-disparate transactional sex. Conclusions: These findings highlight the need for further implementation research to explore ways to effectively engage men. They also underscore the potential of engaging, evidence-based edutainment interventions in fostering spontaneous critical reflection about complex behaviours such as age-disparate transactional sex, and diffusing key messages among target populations without the use of organised diffusion activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the multiple critiques that have been addressed to the concept of ‘parental alienation’ , evidence suggests an increased popularity in recent years. Abused women who seek protection can be labelled as ‘alienating’ mothers. This article investigates the impacts of ‘parental alienation’ allegations on women and children who have experienced domestic violence, focusing on the impacts on mother-child relationships. It draws upon findings from a study that involved multiple case studies conducted with women who had experienced domestic violence and who had been seen as ‘engaging in parental alienation’. For these women, the allegations of ‘parental alienation’ had had negative and sometimes dramatic impacts on the relationships with their children. First, the allegations had resulted in limited or no contact between women and their children. Second, the allegations had limited mother-child communication and had made it more complicated. Third, the allegations had limited women’s ability to protect their children. Fourth, some women reported changes in their children’s behaviours, as some children had expressed feelings of frustration and anger as a result of this situation. The fifth theme emerging from the data was a collection of strategies women used to protect and support their children despite these allegations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child protection services intervene with mothers, leaving fathers on the sidelines. However, fathers’ involvement is beneficial. The aim is to explore fathers’ and professionals’ perceptions of the factors influencing fathers’ involvement in family assessments and interventions. A qualitative design was used and 5 focus groups with 9 professionals, 10 mothers and 8 fathers, and 6 in-depth interviews with 6 fathers were carried out in Gran Canaria (Spain). A thematic content analysis was carried out using QSR NVivo 12. The category Determinants of paternal involvement in family assessment and intervention was obtained, made up of 3 subcategories: Personal characteristics of the father, Social characteristics and Influence of the mother on the father’s decision. Fathers claim that fathers’ personal characteristics condition their involvement, while professionals argue that it is due to mothers’ influence. Implications for professional practice and work with men are discussed. This study is part of a funded research project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This scoping review aimed to map the extent of evidence on parental advocacy programmes supporting participation in child welfare decision-making. Introduction: Though parental advocacy programmes aim to empower parents navigating complex child welfare systems, the breadth of evidence has not yet been synthesised. Inclusion criteria: Literature from 2002–2022 on parental advocacy programmes related to child welfare decision-making, encompassing various models. Methods: Academic databases, grey literature, and reference lists were searched in September 2022. Screening and data extraction utilised standardised forms. Analysis incorporated summary and thematic methods. Results: 57 studies were included, exhibiting a predominance of qualitative methods. Peer advocacy was the most common model. The review reveals a proliferation of peer support initiatives aiming to enhance parental empowerment through shared experiences. Conclusions: Parental advocacy programmes demonstrate promise for improving family experiences and participation in child welfare systems. However, more rigorous evaluation is needed to elucidate the connections between specific programmes elements and outcomes. The review maps the current evidence landscape, while underscoring the need for implementation research and inclusive participation paradigms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aboriginal children are overrepresented in Australia's child protection system, and limited tools are available to assist with connecting these children to their culture. The Stitching Our Future Together (SOFT) Program, developed in consultation with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples, services, and other specialists, is used within the Department of Communities' Child Protection and Family Support (CPFS) Division in Western Australia to address big emotions and safe behaviours with Aboriginal children in care. This study used phenomenology and social constructivism to explore CPFS staff's perspectives and experiences of the SOFT Program. Seven semistructured in-depth interviews took place with CPFS staff. Five themes were identified: the SOFT Program and its use, culturally responsive practice, facilitating relationships, communication, and recommendations and implementation challenges. Participants expressed that the SOFT Program fostered an understanding of, and communication about, pertinent issues such as family and domestic violence, drug and alcohol addiction, mental health, and child neglect and abuse. The findings show how staff described the program's capacity to help them navigate complex situations, highlighting the need to incorporate more culturally centred and creative-based work into child protection practice. IMPLICATIONS The SOFT Program positively supports culturally responsive practice and facilitates relationships and communication for child protection workers and children in care. The integration of creative and legislated practices assists with personalising and enhancing the effectiveness of child protection work with children in care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critically examines safety and innovation in out-of-home care, with a particular focus on addressing the entrenched overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in the child welfare system. Grounded in the practical insights of safe house workers and managers, the purpose of this article is to share an innovative practice case study—the Tangentyere Safe House in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. As a case study within an Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisation, Tangentyere Safe House emerges as a site for understanding the confluence of cultural safety, familial connections, and strategies to mitigate overrepresentation. Key themes explored include promoting cultural safety and supporting connections with the family of origin. Through a methodological lens that privileges practice-based knowledge, this article captured the on-the-ground experiences of those actively engaged in child safety. The findings underscore the innovative practices employed by Tangentyere Safe House in navigating out-of-home care within an Indigenous context to argue for a holistic and culturally informed approach to child protection interventions, drawing attention to the practical strategies employed by safe house workers. The article showcases the central role of Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations in providing care alongside families in out-of-home care. IMPLICATIONS The innovative approach of the Tangentyere Safe House highlights the importance and unique role of Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations in out-of-home care. The role of Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations should be formally recognised in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle hierarchy. Frontline safe house workers' knowledge and expertise regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care can inform all stakeholder involvement including police interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For children entering out-of-home care due to child protection concerns, meaningful connections to family and culture are important and necessary. In this article the complexities of promoting cultural connections for culturally and linguistically diverse children in out-of-home care are explored. Through the use of the settlement, ethnicity, language and faith (S.E.L.F) cultural framework, practitioners and leaders working in the child and family sector can consider the cultural elements of the children in their care. The framework provides questions to explore what culture may mean for families and encourages practitioners to self-reflect on their own cultural assumptions. The framework development has been informed through community of practice reflections and learnings by the authors who have held multiple practice, leadership, and research roles in the child and family sector. IMPLICATIONS The S.E.L.F. framework encompasses curiosity questions that guide the collection of information from children and families to aid in better understanding and enhancing cultural connection practices and to build organisational cultural competency. The framework promotes practitioner critical thinking and reflection on their own cultural bias and assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children and young people in Australian foster or kinship care are separated from their siblings for a range of reasons. These may include issues that are behavioural, sibling-related, the capacity of carers to host multiple children, or policies that enforce a one-child-per-bedroom rule. This study investigated strategies enhancing stability and meaningful connections among siblings within the Mockingbird Family, a social network model of foster and kinship caring. Case examples, network mapping, and visualisation of the Mockingbird Family networks are presented alongside results from thematic analysis of qualitative data. The findings suggest that the Mockingbird Family facilitates meaningful contact and sibling connections, even when coplacement was not possible. Sibling coplacement and contact provide crucial benefits such as emotional support, stability, shared experiences, and a sense of belonging, contributing to children's and young people's development, healing from trauma, and overall wellbeing. IMPLICATIONS Keeping sibling groups connected and in contact can reduce placement breakdown and contribute to their overall wellbeing. The Mockingbird Family model of foster care provides a range of options for keeping siblings meaningfully connected through coplacement within the same constellation and opportunities for other siblings to join in Mockingbird Family activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (respectfully referred to hereafter as "Aboriginal") children in the child protection system is a concern in Australia, with Aboriginal children placed in out-of-home care at a rate 11 times that of non-Aboriginal children. This study utilised linked administrative data to determine the longitudinal child protection pathways from birth to age 10 years for a cohort of 15,815 Aboriginal children born in Western Australia between 2000 and 2006. In total, 9,269 (59%) children did not have any contact with child protection between one year prior to birth and their 11th birthday. Conversely, 6,546 (41%) Aboriginal children were involved with child protection during the study period, with 1,405 (9%) children placed in out-of-home care. Infants who had a child protection notification were more likely than other age groups to have a substantiated notification of abuse and neglect and placed in out-of-home care. More than half (56%) of all children were predominantly placed in kinship care; however, only 22% had their first placement with kinship carers. Aboriginal-led strategies together with the support and commitment of all levels of government are required to reduce entry into care and improve outcomes for Aboriginal children in care. IMPLICATIONS Aboriginal-led strategies and wholistic responses can reduce the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children reported to child protection systems, and support families and communities. Infancy stands out as a key point of system involvement. This stage offers an opportunity where early intervention and family support strategies may prevent first time involvement with the child protection services and promote kinship placement, reunification with parents, and community-led supportive care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited data are available on cases presenting for triage by child abuse specialists, particularly data combining patient demographics with presenting concerns and outcomes. This study aims to provide a descriptive analysis of cases presenting to one child abuse medical subspecialty team. Data were collected for all referrals triaged by the Child Protection Program, a child abuse team located within an academic children's medical center. The program triaged a total of 928 cases and completed 345 in-person visits with a medical provider. Nearly, half of all provider visits were for evaluation of children aged 3 years and younger (51%) and for a concern of physical abuse (49%). Of these visits, 26% were determined to be consistent with an accident or medical condition. This descriptive analysis highlights the burden of child abuse cases presenting to one small hospital-based child abuse program, as well as the structural and financial challenges faced by these programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the number of infants entering Out-of-Home Care at birth internationally continues to rise, Hospital-based healthcare workers (HBHCWs) are increasingly likely to become involved in ethically, morally, and legally complex child protection processes. This scoping review aimed to identify and synthesize qualitative literature pertaining to the perspectives of HBHCWs with experiences of involvement in child protection processes occurring in the perinatal period. JBI Methodology for Scoping Reviews guided this review. Databases Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, ProQuest, Web of Science, SCOPUS, and Informit were searched between March 1 and April 30, 2023. Eighteen sources were identified as meeting the criteria for inclusion following screening by two independent reviewers. Data extracted from the included sources are presented in narrative and tabular formats. Involvement in child protection processes is an inherently conflictual experience for HBHCWs and gives rise to internal, interpersonal, and interorganizational tensions. Involvement can have an enduring impact on the HBHCWs, particularly when an infant is removed from hospital by child protection authorities. Appropriate peer, managerial, and organizational level responses are essential to ameliorate risk to HBHCWs themselves and subsequently their practice with women, infants, and families. HBHCWs can provide valuable insight into the challenges of delivering healthcare at the interface of child protection. Future research should focus on building understanding of experiences across disciplines to ensure that interventions designed to prepare and support HBHCWs are effective and evidence-based. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health and allied health professionals are uniquely positioned to collaborate in prevention, early intervention and responses to child maltreatment. Effective collaboration requires comprehensive interprofessional education (IPE), and inadequate collaboration across sectors and professions continually contributes to poor outcomes for children. Little is known about what interprofessional preparation health and allied health professionals receive before initial qualification (preservice) that equips them for interprofessional collaboration and provision of culturally safe care in child protection. This scoping review aimed to identify what is known internationally about IPE in child protection for preservice health and allied health professionals. Thirteen manuscripts reporting 12 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the synthesis. Key characteristics of the educational interventions are presented, including target disciplines, core content and their learning objectives and activities. Findings demonstrated primarily low-quality methodologies and educational interventions that had not been replicated beyond their initial context. Many educational interventions did not provide comprehensive content covering the spectrum of prevention, early intervention and responses for all types of child maltreatment, and/or did not clearly indicate how IPE was achieved. Key challenges to delivering comprehensive interprofessional child protection include lack of institutional support and competing priorities across disciplines who must meet requirements of separate regulatory bodies. Consequently, there is a need for further development and robust evaluation of educational interventions to explore how interprofessional collaborative skills for child protection can be developed and delivered in preservice health and allied health professional education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored how day-to-day social work practice with children and families in Wales responds to poverty, building on case studies already published in the other three UK nations. A case study design was used. The sites were locality teams in two local authorities, differing in their children looked after rates and trajectories of these over time. Qualitative research methods included practice observations; interviews with staff; focus groups; mapping of decision-making processes; and a sample of family case narratives. In one local authority, the range of data was similar to the other UK nation case studies. However, in the second, data collection was adapted to the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) lockdown context. Some evidence was found of narratives that emphasised the cultural, rather than material, aspect of poverty, and blamed parents for making inappropriate spending choices. Poverty alleviation was generally seen as outside of social workers' control and requiring earlier help before social services involvement. In one of the local authorities, there was some awareness shown of the impact of poverty on parenting. In the other, that took part in the study during 2020, the exacerbating effects of families in lockdown were described, including the lack of family support due to pandemic restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scoping review on the short-term (during care) outcomes of residential care at the user level (children and their families) was conducted. The objective was to understand the extent and type of recent research focusing on outcomes during residential care placement as a child protection intervention and map the findings of the original studies. In six databases, 2,693 records of recent peer-reviewed articles with an abstract in English were found. A total of seventeen original studies were included in the review. In the studies, three distinct types of interventions were identified—implemented interventions, innovations and service as usual (SAU). The findings revealed variations in researchers' definitions of the concept of effectiveness and heterogeneity in methodology. Three studies were randomised control trials, two were quasi-experimental and twelve other designs were quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods studies. Most of the interventions in the original studies, brought about positive change in different dimensions of the wellbeing or functioning of users. The most robust designs were used in studying previously assessed interventions designed to combat specific problems. Whilst studies on SAU have demonstrated improvements in various aspects, the inherent complexity and diversity of residential care make the assessment of effectiveness a challenging task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technology plays an increasing role in children's safeguarding social work practice, where there is a renewed emphasis on the recording and interpretation of data via digital technology, as well as the use of technology to communicate with families and colleagues, particularly since Covid-19. This scoping review delineated extant research investigating uses of digital technology in children's safeguarding social work practice since 2000 in order to contextualise current emerging practices. The methodology used accounted for the heterogeneity of study designs whilst maintaining a rigorous approach to searching, selection and analysis. Literature searches were conducted in August and September 2022 identifying forty-three studies. Descriptive quantitative and qualitative analyses were undertaken to outline date, location, methodology, aspect of technology investigated, and key findings of included studies. The review generated two descriptive categories which reflect the included studies: electronic information systems and digital communications. These categories subsume a range of distinct platforms and applications whilst highlighting a tendency of the included studies to separate out their focus between these specific aspects of digital technology, with limited discourse between categories. Families' perspectives are also missing from most research identified in the review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractDecisions to screen child maltreatment reports are often inaccurate and inconsistent, which has prompted jurisdictions to develop algorithmic decision-making tools to supplement workers’ judgments. However, the effectiveness of such innovations relies on successful adoption and consistent use by frontline users. Prior research has examined barriers to the adoption of decision-making tools in child welfare settings, but few studies have explored the implementation of algorithmic tools. This study described the use of such tools in practice and examined factors that influenced practitioners’ attitudes and behaviors as they integrated the tools into their work. A qualitative case study informed by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR 2.0) was conducted regarding two county agencies implementing algorithmic tools for child welfare screening decisions. Data collection included document reviews, interviews with child welfare practitioners and leaders, and focus groups with child welfare and technology professionals. Participants disclosed key individual and contextual factors that impacted their perceptions of tool usefulness, including implementation processes, tool complexity, policy landscapes, internal communication structures, and staff role differences. Consideration of these factors must be incorporated into the future development and implementation of data-driven interventions to maximize their capacity to improve human services professionals’ decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a significant body of research that attests to the deleterious impact of an accumulation of adverse childhood experience across the lifespan, which provides a strong rationale for the development of a means for evaluating this accumulation in a high‐risk population. We developed a theory‐driven measure, the Cumulative Experiences Index, and conducted a pilot study to test its utility. The Cumulative Experiences Index derives a cumulative harm score that can be used to inform intervention and prevention strategies, programmes and initiatives across all tiers of public health prevention intervention. The Cumulative Experiences Index was piloted with 50 participants aged 8–17 years old who were actively engaged with an Intensive Family Support service. The study explores whether cases rated as low, medium or high severity on the Cumulative Experiences Index corresponded with severity ratings on the three measures of concurrent validity: the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Kessler‐10 and Children's Revised Impact of Events Scale. The Index provides a valid and accurate means of reflecting the interconnectedness and complexity of exposure to different forms of harm that accumulates over time. Practitioners and researchers will benefit from using the Cumulative Experiences Index—a new valid and reliable measure of cumulative harm. Key Practitioner Messages: The Cumulative Experiences Index assists practitioners understand the frequency, duration and severity of the harm to a child or young person.The Index provides a valid and accurate means of reflecting the interconnectedness and complexity of exposure to different forms of harm that accumulates over time.Practitioners and researchers are likely to benefit from using the Cumulative Harm Index—a new valid and reliable measure of cumulative harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving timely "permanency" for children after statutory child removal has become a key policy driver internationally. In New South Wales, child protection reforms include prioritising reunification; introducing time frames for resolution of legal proceedings; and outsourcing a substantial proportion of casework to the non‐government sector. In assessing the viability of reunification, courts place responsibility for behaviour change on parents and obscure the role of systems in supporting these changes. Professionals, as actors within a complex system, have an insider perspective on factors that influence reunification. A qualitative study was undertaken to elicit the perspectives of professionals working with parents involved in care proceedings. A total of 29 caseworkers and lawyers took part in focus groups. Complexity theory was used as an interpretive framework, and thematic analysis was completed. Themes about barriers to reunification exposed the unintended consequences of change in a complex adaptive system. Far from making reunification more achievable by streamlining the legal process, changes introduced impediments in the form of role, goal and process confusion and low levels of professional confidence in their capacity to help parents and achieve predictable legal outcomes. These results strengthen calls for a different approach to confront system‐induced barriers. Embedding interagency collaboration, challenging risk narratives about parents and offering them dedicated services are areas that demand urgent attention in order to ensure no child, whose safety and best interests could be met by reunification, remains in care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) encompasses a range of complex neurodevelopmental challenges that arise because of maternal alcohol use during pregnancy. Contrary to previous beliefs, FASD is a wide-ranging condition that is mostly invisible, affecting cognitive, social, and daily living skills. Furthermore, living with FASD may present other challenges, such as mental health issues, substance abuse, and engagement in criminal behavior. FASD is a long-term disability that requires support across the lifespan. The main objective of this research was to determine what, if anything, has changed since a prior review in 2020 of parents with FASD appearing in child intervention courts in Canada. We found eleven relevant reported cases throughout Canada from 2020 to 2024 where parents had a confirmed diagnosis or a potential FASD to be eligible for our study. Within these cases, only one parent was able to reunite with their children because of the strong and supportive system they had. There were four cases where ongoing contact between parent and child(ren) was permitted, Additionally, we found that professionals lack education regarding the potential skills that people with FASD may demonstrate. A person with FASD is seen through the lens of their diagnosis rather than a strengths-based approach, creating stigma, fear, and power imbalance. Stigma has an impact not just on how professionals see people and make decisions but also on policymakers, funding, and support from governments or other social groups. Individuals or parents with FASD are often reluctant to report their diagnosis for fear of being judged or having their children taken from their care. Thus, parents are unable to obtain access to services, and even when they do have access, they must navigate the system on their own. Parents with FASD who are involved in child intervention may be required to participate in many programs simultaneously, potentially resulting in an overwhelming experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this article is on exploring the rationales behind social workers' decision-making in everyday tasks that involve handling new referrals regarding children and families. Such decisions are made in a legal context, but at the same time require the use of discretionary space and reasoning based on sources of professional knowledge. Drawing on qualitative data compiled through an ethnographic approach, this study provides an insight into everyday practice, reasoning and decision-making. The study demonstrates that one of the important rationales for decision-making is derived from the social worker's direct experience of interacting with parents and children. A particular aspect of the interaction, parents' reactions to being referred, is scrutinized and serves as a form of validation for legal action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To describe the characteristics of 310 children of up to 16 years of age with suspected abuse admitted to a tertiary pediatric hospital, to describe their management process, as well as to calculate the duration and basic cost of their hospitalization. METHOD Main variables of interest were examined from a data set of minors (demographics, family and socioeconomic status, etc.) from the archives of the Social Service of “P. & A. Kyriakou” Children’s Hospital of Athens. The dataset included the total of children admitted to the hospital with a public prosecutor’s order during a specific three years period. RESULTS The socioeconomic factor most often recorded in this study’s participants was parental unemployment within the nuclear family structure. The main reason for referral to the Hospital’s Social Service was neglect. The most frequently recorded case outcome category was the return of children to their family home under the supervision of Community Social Services. The analysis of the correlations between sex, age, residence status and the referral reasons of minors noted significant differences. CONCLUSIONS The findings of the study may contribute to the design and implementation of future interventions aimed at the development of an effective and immediate response system and the formulation of abuse prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In the current study, we investigated whether denial and avoidance rates differed statistically significantly based on the interview protocol used. Method: We examined 38 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) interview transcripts, and 30 control transcripts from interviews from an earlier study (Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2022, 36, 7) conducted with alleged child victims of abuse at Dutch child protection services. Results: We detected 57 denial and 282 avoidance statements across the 68 interviews. No statistically significant differences emerged between (1) the proportion of denials using NICHD (42%, n = 16/38) and control interviews (30%, n = 9/30), and (2) the average number of denial statements between NICHD (M = 0.84) and control interviews (M = 0.83). Furthermore, denials (and avoidances) were not more or less likely to occur in response to certain types of questions, even though the majority of denials in our sample occurred in response to option‐posing questions (60%, n = 34/57). Denials did occur statistically significantly less often within the first half of the individual interviews in NICHD than in control interviews. Conclusions: Our findings call attention to the difficulties child protection services face in investigative interviews with alleged child victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was designed to understand the roles and challenges of child protection services (CPS) employees in arranging out-of-home care for children with minority and immigrant backgrounds in Rogaland, Norway. Findings from the six in-depth interviews with CPS employees showed that, guided by existing laws and policies, they follow three phases from investigation to the care order decision. The premium they place on “best-interests-of-children” can be contested in relation to the rights of the family. CPS employees day-to-day challenges include understanding minority families cultural backgrounds, finding foster families, and communication. Based on the findings, policy and practice recommendations are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding child maltreatment on a national level is complicated by lack of consistency in definitions of abuse and reporting by state. Adolescents experience child maltreatment, but responses to their maltreatment likely differ from younger children due to differences in development and vulnerability. The present study examined state variations of adolescent child protective systems reports using data from the 2015–2019 NCANDS. We calculated the rates of maltreatment reports, substantiations, and maltreatment subtypes per 1,000 adolescents in the population. Findings revealed wide variations across all three measured rates. Examining state variations involved with CPS is critical to informing policy and practice solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Jurnal Ilmu Hukum, Humaniora dan Politik (JIHHP) is the property of Dinasti Publisher and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Jurnal Ilmu Hukum, Humaniora dan Politik (JIHHP) is the property of Dinasti Publisher and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this article is to critically examine the universalisation of treaties such as the Hague Convention to highlight the tension it brings out between women's rights and children's rights by blindsiding gender-related issues and cultural realities. Written in the context of Ariha Shah in Germany and the Bhattacharya case in Norway, this article aims to map the landscape of international child abduction and repatriation attempts by parents in India, as well as the Indian legislative attempt to tackle the issue of abduction through the draft of the Civil Aspects of International Parental Abduction Bill, 2016. Viewed critically through a child rights perspective, the article considers whether the positioning of the Abduction Bill from a feminist viewpoint does justice to the agency of children involved, and makes recommendations on how their position can be strengthened further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensibility to stigma in child welfare systems is important to prevent harmful acts against marginalised groups in society. This case analysis centres around one family in the child welfare service (CWS) that could be considered marginalised across several dimensions. The empirical material consists of three separate in-depth interviews with the child, their parents and their caseworker. We explore how the stigma attributed to the family was enhanced through the relationship with the CWS and the role stigmatisation played in the interactions between the family and the CWS. The analysis showed how the parents were constructed as 'outsiders', compared to the ideal; they lacked money, good looks, and character. Although the parents were somehow subjugated and the caseworker perceived them as submissive, they also resisted stigma in both open and subtle ways. However, this was not always sensed by the CWS. We discuss the importance of addressing stigma in all its forms and acknowledge that stigma is power, which is also intertwined with the broader policy. This is crucial knowledge to mitigate the role of the CWS in the stigma machine and in turn reduce structural bias within the CWS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty is a concept related to, but distinct from, risk. Risk has been defined as the portion of the continuum from complete certainty to total ignorance that can be estimated using tools of probability. Uncertainty, on the other hand lies in the portion of the continuum of knowability that is incalculable and uncontrollable. It is well established that estimating risk probabilistically in the child protection context is unreliable and prone to error under conditions of high uncertainty—particularly when making decisions on the long-term needs of a child. This is true whether risk is estimated using professional judgement, statistical algorithms or a combination of both. In other disciplines, tools have been developed that transition decision making away from the probabilistic reasoning associated with judgments of risk (the 'Predict and Act' paradigm) to procedures that do not rely on the probabilistic estimation of risk (the 'Monitor and Adapt' paradigm). A pragmatic approach to adapting existing assessment procedures developed within the Predict and Act paradigm to align more closely with the Monitor and Adapt approach is presented. It is suggested that a key component of such an adaptation would be integrating case formulation into routine child protection practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the findings from an evaluation of post-proceedings support (PPS) within Gloucestershire Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC). PPS is offered to parents in the year immediately following a completed FDAC hearing. The article provides background on the formation and development of FDACs across England and FDAC evaluations, before detailing the specific delivery model in use in Gloucestershire. The evaluation that took place March 2020–July 2022 examined the delivery, effectiveness and impact of the support services provided to families after legal proceedings concerning child welfare due to parental substance misuse. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study analysed quantitative data to assess outcomes such as parental cessation of substance misuse and family reunification, alongside qualitative insights through interviews exploring families' and professionals' perceptions and experiences. This evaluation sheds light on the strengths and limitations of this post-proceeding offer. It examines the extent to which the services can be said to contribute to sustainable recovery for parents and whether the model is transferable to other FDACs. It highlights the importance of continuing support for families and may provide 'conceptual' transferability and insights that will be relevant to other FDACs and beyond into children's and families' social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Custodial parents, often single mothers, face challenges regarding child maintenance, including a lack of financial commitments from non-custodial parents for their children's welfare. The evidence suggests that there is a strong link between child maintenance and poverty as well as other family violence issues. In addition to their primary child and family protection duties, child protection practitioners in Ghana have a mandate to assess child maintenance concerns. This dual responsibility may have the advantage of promoting holistic child and family practices, but it could also negatively impact families when practitioners overly focus on one responsibility at the expense of the other. We sought to understand and show whether families who reported child maintenance concerns to the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development in Ghana experienced challenges beyond child maintenance and whether practitioners identified these primary protection concerns in their assessments. Findings from qualitative in-depth interviews with seventeen parents show that these families experienced domestic violence, marital conflict and child abuse and neglect beyond the scope of a standard child maintenance case. The findings highlight the importance of child protection workers conducting comprehensive family assessments to resolve 'hidden' family difficulties when establishing child maintenance arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous evidence on the impact of Family Group Conferencing in the UK cannot establish causality. This article presents results from the first UK randomised controlled trial of Family Group Conferences. All families entering pre-proceedings between September 2020 and May 2022 in twenty-one local authorities in England were eligible for inclusion in the trial. In total, 1,511 families were randomised and child outcomes were collected from administrative data until up to twenty-one months post-referral. Half of the families were randomly allocated to be referred for a Family Group Conference, on top of usual practice during pre-proceedings. The (pre-registered) primary outcome is the child's looked-after status twelve months after the pre-proceedings letter. This was 8.6 percentage points lower among referred families (36.2 percent vs 44.8 percent). Children were also less likely to have care proceedings issued (59.2 percent vs 71.7 percent) and spent less time in care (87 vs. 115 days). However, there was no significant difference in whether a child's living arrangement remained the same or changed in the months after the decision. These findings have implications for the support given to families during pre-proceedings; they provide evidence in favour of Family Group Conferences as a way to reduce the chances of children going into care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child protection inequalities are population group differences in contact rates, experiences and outcomes of child protection systems. This article reports rates of Pasifika children's contact with the statutory child protection system at three outcomes: substantiation, having a family group conference, (FGC) or entering care (placement), and describes intersections between these outcomes and socio-economic deprivation. Including all children resident in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2019–2020 aged 0–17 years, this study compared rates between sole Pasifika, Pasifika plus other ethnicities (Pasifika+), and Non-Māori, Non-Pasifika (NMNP) children. Substantiation was twice as likely for Pasifika, even after controlling for sociodemographic factors, and Pasifika children were 25% more likely to enter care than NMNP children. As socio-economic deprivation increased, rates of substantiation increased for all groups, but most sharply for Pasifika+ children. Sole Pasifika children had the highest rate of substantiation and FGCs in the least deprived quintile of socio-economic deprivation, but the lowest FGC and placement rates in areas of highest deprivation. Pasifika+ children had double the rate of sole Pasifika children for placement in high-deprivation areas, but this was equal to the NMNP rate. Findings are analysed via theories of inequalities. Aggregated ethnic categories obscure considerable variation in within-group experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]