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Background Mothers who have children removed from their care often have complex needs. These women have poor health outcomes and are dying earlier than their peers from preventable and amenable causes. Yet there is little known about how health care services might mitigate these risks. This study aimed to listen to the voices of women who had children removed from their care to understand their experiences of health and healthcare. Methods We used a narrative approach to collect and analyse interview data with six mothers who had experienced child removal in England. Each participant was asked to reflect on their life and main health challenges. Results Three narrative subplots were developed to consolidate experiences of unmet health need: (i) 'on paper you're normal': narratives of complex need, (ii) 'in my family, everyone had issues': narratives of whole family need and (iii) 'I'm still mummy, no matter where they are': narratives of maternal identity and health. Conclusions Findings highlight limitations within current systems of support, including a culture of distrust and women falling between the gaps of services. Women's narratives illustrate opportunities for health intervention, especially immediately following child removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International child protection standards aim to ensure that non-governmental organisations 'do no harm' but the current approach to reporting abuse may actually leave children unprotected and, in some cases, expose them to greater risk. This discussion paper gives voice to concerns raised by local practitioners in Africa and places them within the context of available research in order to stimulate a debate aimed at enhancing the impact of current safeguards. Drawing on systems theory and the work of Pierre Bourdieu, the article illustrates how the current model of reporting often fails to take into account the significant disconnect between formal and informal protection mechanisms, as well as the unpredictability of individual decision-making. Examples from research and practitioner experience illustrate how reporting procedures may provide a route to protection which is impractical and undesirable to local people, and may ultimately be unhelpful to local practitioners. The article calls for further research to inform changes to the current approach and for a review of funding requirements in order that local organisations have greater scope to engage communities in the co-creation of procedures, thereby indigenising responses to ensure that they are realistic and genuinely respond to the specificities of children's lives. Key Practitioner Messages Formal reporting procedures may actually offer routes to protection that are inaccessible or unacceptable to local people., Reporting procedures should be developed with a much greater participation of local people., There is a need for investment in piloting and implementing locally led approaches to capacity building., The engagement of donors is critical in order to develop a new approach to evaluating 'child safe' organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since all policies address problems, they necessarily include implicit or explicit constructions of these problems. This paper explores how child maltreatment has been constructed in New Zealand's child protection policies. It questions the underlying assumptions of this problem construction and seeks to shed light on what has been omitted. Utilizing a qualitative content analysis of eight key policy documents, this study reveals the construction of child maltreatment has been dominated primarily by a child-centric, risk-focused approach. This approach assigns blame and shifts responsibilities onto parents and families. In addition, the vulnerability discourse and social investment approach underpinning this perspective have allowed important structural factors, such as poverty and inequality, to remain unaddressed. This paper also highlights the one-dimensional focus on the lower social class to control future liabilities. We suggest that the harm inflicted by corporations on children's well-being is another form of child exploitation currently omitted from the problem construction. We suggest that child abuse should be defined and understood in policy as harm to children's well-being and argue that the state should prevent and mitigate harm by addressing structural forces of the problem as well as protecting children against corporate harms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consequences of poorly processed reports of child abuse and neglect, along with governance challenges in child protection systems, are well-documented. Recent research, inquiries and royal commissions emphasise the need for child-centered and participatory practices that support the rights and dignity of children and their families. However, the challenges of quality case recording in child protection systems and contexts remain unclear. This paper reports on the findings from a pilot study that interviewed (n = 22) and surveyed (n = 56) social work students and social work curriculum developers from Australian Universities and practitioners currently working in the Australian child protection service system. By capturing participants' professional insights, we aim to understand the embedded barriers to transforming child-centered systems by focusing on strengths and possibilities in current practices rather than reiterating deficiencies in recordkeeping. This paper reveals insights into how professionals working in the child protection system understand and are supported in child-centered case note recording and recordkeeping practices. It also identifies the possibilities for the crucial role that interdisciplinary collaboration and alignment between social work and recordkeeping informatics can play in transforming and supporting recordkeeping approaches and practices that prioritise and uphold the rights and dignity of the child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protecting an unborn baby from abuse and neglect presents particular challenges for professionals due to the uncertainties about appraising future harm and functioning of family relationships. This systematic narrative review synthesises studies of professional decision making by health and social care professionals regarding child protection of an unborn baby. Five bibliographic databases (ASSIA, CINAHL Plus, Ovid MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Social Care Online) were searched using an explicit and robust search; papers identified as relevant were appraised for quality and combined using a narrative synthesis based on the main themes in the papers. Ten papers met the inclusion criteria, including qualitative studies, surveys and randomised trials of the effectiveness of decision support tools. The papers identified the following case risk factors relating to risks to an unborn baby: alcohol abuse; ante-natal care; previous children in care; domestic violence; drug abuse; lack of education; employment issues; unrealistic expectations of the baby; housing issues; learning disability; feelings about pregnancy; low socio-economic status; mental illness; mother's childhood experiences; lack of parenting capacity; physical disability. There were several papers on developing risk assessment tools. A few papers focused on risk assessment and decision processes including engagement with pregnant women. There was some discussion of psychosocial supports for risks in pregnancy. There is useful published material on the range of risk factors, and more limited material on the development of assessment tools and on decision processes. The psychosocial supports that might be provided to the pregnant woman as decision options is an area for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents and guardians in child protection systems are in unequal power relationships with child protection practitioners. This relationship is experienced as exclusionary or even oppressive by many parents and guardians. For families and communities in the child protection system who experience intersectional discrimination and disadvantage, such as people with intellectual disabilities and First Nations people, this unequal relationship and subsequent potential exclusion and oppression can be even more profound. A growing body of literature indicates that advocacy can assist in addressing unequal relationships in other contexts, such as involuntary mental health. This paper explores the role of representational advocacy in supporting parents in child protection settings through a case study of an advocacy service in Victoria, Australia. Using a human rights framework to guide the analysis, the paper highlights how advocacy can help support rights, but that broader structural change will be required to consistently uphold the rights of parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scientific Annals of the 'Al. I. Cuza' University, Iasi. Sociology & Social Work / Analele Stiintifice ale Universitatii 'Al. I. Cuza' Iasi Sociologie si Asistenta Sociala is the property of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University 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.)

Holistic Flexibility is a conceptual lens in systems thinking that enables intellectual, emotional and tactical elasticity in systems practice. This paper will demonstrate Holistic Flexibility in practice in an NGO setting to design and implement a programme to address the widening gap between government policy and its implementation. Critical Systems Heuristics was chosen as the preferred methodology, strengthened with two methods from two other systems methodologies—CATWOE (a mnemonic for Customers, Actors, Transformation, Worldview, Owners, Environment) from Soft Systems Methodology and issues (assumption) rating method from Strategic Assumption Surfacing and Testing. Following a participative programme design exercise, two phases were identified. The strategy, implementation and impact of phase 1, which covered work undertaken between the period 2018 and 2020, is provided. Phase 2 was under consideration at the time of writing this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This integrative review aims to evaluate the experiences of health and social care practitioners with regard to how they exercise professional curiosity in child protection practice. Professional curiosity gained significant currency following the Munro Review of Child Protection (2010) in England, as a means of seeking clarity on what is happening within a family. However, a recurrent finding from child safeguarding practice reviews is that practitioners continue to struggle to exercise curiosity. This is evident within both the United Kingdom and international literature, although descriptors for the concept may differ. This study attempted to identify facilitators and barriers to applying professional curiosity to provide a greater understanding of this theoretical concept. Title and abstract review of 1428 articles identified from databases and 11 from other sources resulted in 52 papers for full‐text review. The quality of each article was appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool for qualitative studies, the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) for quantitative/mixed method studies and the Joanna Briggs framework for theoretical/opinion papers. Key findings were recorded in the Summary Table of Literature Reviewed. Data extracts were thematically analysed. Twenty‐four papers predominantly from the UK, but also from Australia, Italy, Sweden and USA formed the data set. Overarching themes that emerged from the thematic analysis included: noticing dissonance, emitting curiosity, constructing meaning, facilitators, individual professional challenges, organisational and macro‐level influences and conceptual development. This review demonstrated that professional curiosity is multifaceted and involves a whole system approach, from empowered, knowledgeable and competent frontline practitioners to creative, innovative and empathic organisations, that value staff contributions and place the child's best interests at the forefront of service development. Recommendations are made for practice and further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the findings and implications of interdisciplinary exploratory research conducted by social work and recordkeeping informatics researchers in Australia and the UK. It sought to identify the practices, systems, education and technologies that can foster rights-based, child-centred recordkeeping practices in child protection contexts, exploring the transformation and advocacy work that could be achieved in child protection case note recording and recordkeeping practices and systems through interdisciplinary collaborations. Drawing from qualitative interviews, focus groups and surveys with Social Work students, Social Work educators and practice educators, and with practitioners working in children’s social care (in England) and the child protection services system (in Australia), we identify how practitioners are prepared for keeping records that reflect children’s voices and experiences, and identify emerging best practices and persistent challenges. Focusing on the intersection of child rights, archival ethics, and participatory approaches, this paper adds to the discourse on critical archival studies concerning children and calls for an interdisciplinary approach to reimagine future possibilities for participatory and child-centred practice in which children are not just passive subjects but active collaborators in the recordkeeping process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper foregrounds the experiences of mothers involved with England's children's social care system when experiencing domestic abuse. It reports on data from a survivor-led study on domestic violence and/or abuse (DVA), involving women victim-survivors and domestic abuse practitioners. It aimed to understand how dominant discourses governing child protection work with families in which there is a perpetrator of DVA, might be revised to shift a tendency to hold mothers (solely) responsible for the protection of children as well as for their partners' abuse. Methods: The study advances a discourse analysis of interview and focus group data, substantiating how children's social care practices produce the routine responsibilisation of the non-abusing parent, usually the mother, with limited focus on the abusing parent, usually the father. Results: The paper exposes the gendered discourses of mother-victim-blame and responsibility patterning children's social care responses to domestic abuse, which together intensify adult and child victim-survivor material harm and hamper child protection work. Also in evidence are the enduring traumatic consequences of the court-ordered removal of children. Conclusion: The paper has implications for policy and practice, asserting that shifting responsibility away from mothers requires the ongoing interrogation of normative understandings of gender relations and gender-role stereotypes as they manifest in families. Fathers' accountability should be constructed on a structural as well as individual level, which in the case of DVA and the family, incorporates efforts to enable perpetrators of DVA to cultivate an individual sense of responsibility and accountability, as standard practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, Aboriginal children are significantly over‐represented in the out‐of‐home‐care system. Drawing on Aboriginal trauma scholarship and decolonizing methodologies, this paper situates the contemporary state removal of Aboriginal children against the backdrop of historical policies that actively sought to disrupt Aboriginal kinship and communities. The paper draws on submissions to the 2018 Australian Senate Parliamentary Inquiry into Adoption Reform from Aboriginal community controlled organizations and highlights four common themes evident throughout these submissions: (i) the role of intergenerational trauma in high rates of Aboriginal child removal; (ii) the place of children within Aboriginal culture, kinship and identity; (iii) the centrality of the principles of self‐determination and autonomy for Aboriginal communities and (iv) Aboriginal community controlled alternatives to child removal. Acknowledging the failure of both federal and state reforms to address the issues raised in these submissions, the paper reflects on the marginalization of Aboriginal voices and solutions within contemporary efforts to address the multiple crises of the child protection system and the implications for the future of Aboriginal children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Securing the welfare of children and the family is an integral part of social work. Modern society has experienced enormous changes that present both opportunities and challenges to the practice of social work to protect the welfare of children. It is thus essential that we understand the experiences of social work practitioners in different parts of the world in order to adapt practice to the changing times. To help achieve this, we present a collection of papers from around the world that presents findings on various aspects of social work research and practice involving children and the potential for improved service delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work makes an important contribution to child protection practice and policy in Australia, but data are limited about the discipline's contribution to research. The aim of this scoping review was to examine the quantity and nature of Australian social work child protection research for the period 2007-14. A comprehensive search of nine bibliographic data bases identified 255 peer-reviewed articles. The papers were authored by 287 researchers, most of whom published only one paper during the period. The research was published in seventeen Australian and thirty-five international journals. Non-empirical papers and those using qualitative methodologies were most prevalent, and there was a lack of research depth and quantum on particular child protection topics. The findings indicate that developing more sustained programmes of research, underpinned by a balanced portfolio of methods and approaches, would maximise the potential for research impact on child protection policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Restoring children from out‐of‐home care (OOHC) to their families is the preferred outcome for all children removed by child protection services, yet little is known about how restoration processes are experienced by families and services supporting them. This paper provides important insights about Aboriginal child restoration from 40 practitioners and stakeholders at a community forum led by Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations in regional New South Wales (NSW), Australia. This is one component of larger Aboriginal‐led research, which investigates child protection experiences and pathways to successful restoration in NSW and the data source for this paper. The community forum explored the issues for families navigating family preservation, OOHC and restoration within child protection and legal systems. Findings include the need for a continuum of support for families throughout their engagement with child protection systems and crucially following the removal of their children. Barriers to effective restoration practice included a lack of access to meaningful and ongoing preservation services, insufficient cultural care planning and family finding efforts that are often too late, the pressure on services to support families without adequate capabilities or enough resourcing, the lack of transparency and the complexities in navigating the restoration process, and the lack of culturally informed support for children and their families while children are in care. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. This paper contributes to understanding practice, processes and barriers for restoration, particularly focused on the perspectives of Aboriginal families and communities, with potential insights for practice within Australia and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Data on children who grow up with parents adhering to violent extremism is scant. This makes it extremely delicate to inform policies and clinical services to protect such children from potential physical and psychological harm. Objective: This paper explores the predicament of children whose caretakers were referred to a specialized clinical team in Montreal (Canada) because of concerns about risks or actual involvement in violent extremism processes. Methods: This paper uses a mixed methods concurrent triangulation design. Quantitative data was obtained through a file review (2016–2020). Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews and a focus group with the team practitioners. Results: Clinicians reported the presence of stereotypes in the health and social services network frequently representing religious extremist parents as potentially dangerous or having inappropriate parenting skills while minimizing the perception of risk for parents adhering to political extremism. Children displayed high levels of psychological distress, mainly related to family separation, parental psychopathology, and conflicts of loyalty stemming from familial or social alienation. Conclusions: Training practitioners to be aware of their own personal and institutional bias may help them to understand the predicament of extremist parents' children and implement systemic, trauma and attachment informed interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a Critical Interpretive Synthesis (CIS), this systematic literature review explores the role of the Educational Psychologist (EP) in relation to child protection and safeguarding as it has been conceptualised within the research base over time. Key databases were searched and a conceptual map, informed by experienced EPs, guided further purposive searching with a focus on conceptual saturation. 24 papers across multiple areas of child protection and safeguarding work were included. Drawing on wider debates, it is suggested that changing legislative and socio-political climates have resulted in a shift within the research base from 'thinking about doing' towards 'thinking about thinking', where a safeguarding agenda is prioritised and there is less focus on child protection. Implications for EPs' practice with children and families are considered, and further opportunities for research suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents findings from an explorative qualitative study on the experiences of students of early childhood studies and primary initial teacher training programmes in England during professional practice placements. The research examined how students' developing advocacy skills to safeguard and protect children were enabled in response to influential factors in their professional practice environments. The role of the university as the education provider is examined in view of the experiences of academic staff in supporting students in the event of a disclosure about a child protection concern. Bourdieu's concept of Habitus is considered in relation to the student's position in terms of the challenges and opportunities in developing their confidence and competency in finding their place and voice to advocate for vulnerable children. Given the critical role of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) practitioners and teachers in safeguarding children, this paper argues the need for more robust provision and integration of teaching advocacy within child protection studies for students as developing professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children participating in research, like other children, may be being maltreated. There is also potential for exposure to abuse during research. Research training, practices and protocols to respond to disclosure and discovery of abuse to protect both researchers and children may not be sufficiently robust. Our aim was to compare and contrast research practices reported in the literature related to protecting children and to recommend safer ways to conduct research. The simultaneous increase in research with children, along with an increased willingness to listen to child victims of abuse, means that researchers must consider the protection of children in the research setting. Twenty-three papers were identified in a literature review. These studies reported a wide variation of ethical considerations, methods, methodology and came from different disciplines. From the 23 papers, two overarching themes were identified: social justice and research and safer research. To make research safer teams should consider training, safety protocols and support for child protection, which includes support to report safeguarding concerns to social care. Further work is required to ensure that training, protocols and support are effective in facilitating researchers to identify and make appropriate child abuse referrals. Ethics practices in abuse research need further debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper has discussed the violation against education facilities in Gaza Strip from the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) perspective, explaining the challenges and the impact of armed conflict on education rights. The paper will identify those violations and will propose methodologies to improve the adoption of the IHL against them. Moreover, it will discuss the policies to decrease the impact of those violations and propose techniques to respond to the threats against children’s rights within the war duration. It will be analyzed the applied IHL in the protection of the education system in Gaza Strip from the attack which happened in 2021 by exploring the efficiency of the IHL impartially. In this research, a qualitative approach has been adopted as a primary source in exploring how educational institutions should be protected within IHL (which should be respected) during attacks. As per the descriptive study, the research will investigate the importance of protecting children’s educational institutions in armed conflict situations. The assessment of child protection was considered in the escalation of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in May 2021. The main source of data has been collected using different media such as Telephone-based semi-structured interviews, E-mail correspondence, documentary review, and agencies working in child protection in Gaza Strip; in addition, other secondary sources have been considered, such as desk review, reliable journalism, and published academic research. Continuous military operations throughout Gaza Strip compose dramatic challenges to getting highly qualified education in a safe environment for children. The air strikes and rocket attacks prevented 637,195 students from being in school in a safe environment (Jeanne, 2008). Other reports addressed that Israeli airstrikes destroyed over 184 schools in 2021 and caused partial or severe damage to others. As addressed in other reports, the students and the academic staff have suffered from different cases of depression and expressed their fears of asymmetric warfare in addition to being under blockage (OCHA, May 2021). Regarding the laws governing educational facilities and institutions’ protection, IHL still has some space for improvement that can be addressed and applied in the future to enhance them (Adam, 2011). It is known that numerous kid fatalities and schools suffered partial or total destruction as a result of military activities. On the same, it is documented that the levels of violence against educational organizations and schools hit unheard-of levels in the last ten years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child abuse is a common phenomenon in Africa, and Ghana is no exception. Where child abuse exists, the appropriate response is child protection. Child protection involves policies, structures and practical steps to ensure children are safeguarded. The Church of Pentecost is one of the fastest-growing Church in Ghana, with a local congregation in almost every community. Winneba, a predominantly fishing community, is affected by several forms of child abuse – child labour, child prostitution, child neglect and trafficking. The Church has 37 local congregations across the length and breadth of the Winneba municipality. In recent times, churches have been recognized as strategic partners in child protection efforts in the communities which they serve. This paper examines the child protection ministry of the Church of Pentecost in Winneba in relation to insights from biblical and practical perspectives on child protection. The findings point to insufficient child protection in the Church of Pentecost congregations in Winneba. The current situation only views children in terms of God's salvific plan that includes children (conversion and sanctification). The paper posits that something far broader is required in the light of child abuse throughout the world and in Winneba. Consequently, certain recommendations are made to enable the churches to take more concrete measures to safeguard children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Viewpoint discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Indonesian government's response, on children and young people. By adopting a geographical and socio-spatial analysis the paper discusses the extent to which the response to the crisis has aggravated the detrimental impacts of the emergency on children. We argue that the government's decision to transition to the 'new normal' was premature, endangering marginalized children who have less power, weaker voices, and a lack of access to the necessary resources to protect themselves. The paper focuses on children's vulnerability and inequality during the crisis, and demands careful consideration for the governance of emergency response and recovery policies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a case study to critically reflect on contemporary discourses in Norway connected to ethnic minority childhoods and children's rights to education and work. Based on a narrative interview with an ethnic minority girl, Sadja (aged 16), who is in state custody and lives with a foster family, we use a decolonial lens to explore the tensions in expectations and rights in her life and education. The tensions encountered are situated along three axes. The first axis illustrates tensions related to education, work, and responsibilities, as Sadja's family responsibilities are perceived by teachers and child welfare workers as preventing her from having "a proper childhood". The second axis explores tensions connected to independence, educational choice, and "belonging to the state", where Sadja experiences that being in state custody results in being unable to "follow her dream". The third axis reflects the tensions between parental expectations of "dreaming big" versus her surrounding environment's anticipation of her simply getting a job. In sum, Sadja's experiences suggest that contemporary Western discourses—such as individualism, self-autonomy, and children as human capital—paradoxically curtail the educational rights and trajectories of ethnic minority children in foster care in Norway in unforeseen and unfortunate ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a history of critique, concentrated discussion and improved assessment processes, neglect continues to be a major challenge for child protection services. This paper draws on findings from a government‐commissioned analysis of 'serious case reviews' (SCRs) in England, arising from incidents of serious child abuse in 2017–2019. There were 235 cases, for which 166 final reports were available. Alongside a quantitative analysis of the whole cohort, we undertook an in‐depth qualitative analysis of 12 cases involving neglect. A key challenge in responding to neglect in its different forms is that it can be so widespread amongst families that practitioners no longer notice its severity or chronicity – it becomes normalised. In this paper we explore two dimensions of the 'paradox of neglect' where it seems to be everywhere and nowhere simultaneously. The first is that neglect is so closely bound up with the prevalence of poverty that little action is taken to address it. The second is that the overwhelming nature of neglect can blind practitioners to other forms of maltreatment that may also be present within a family. Practitioners, now more than ever, need to recognise the dimensions of this paradox to protect children from neglect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid evolution of technology, particularly the ubiquitous presence of the internet, has brought about significant societal changes. While technological advancements have brought numerous benefits, they have also introduced new challenges and risks. Among these challenges is the alarming rise of child grooming, a form of sexual harassment perpetrated against minors, facilitated by the online environment. In Indonesia, the incidence of child grooming is increasingly prevalent, with several reported cases highlighting its emergence as a pressing societal issue. However, the absence of specific legal frameworks addressing this crime has posed significant challenges for law enforcement authorities tasked with its prevention and prosecution. The lack of dedicated legislation targeting child grooming underscores the need for a comprehensive legal response to effectively combat this form of exploitation. Currently, law enforcement officials rely on discretion in the absence of specific legal provisions, resulting in ad-hoc approaches to addressing these cases. This paper employs a normative juridical approach, utilizing The Statute Approach, to examine the legal landscape surrounding child grooming in Indonesia. By synthesizing existing literature and statutory regulations, this study aims to shed light on the legal complexities inherent in combating this emerging crime. In conclusion, while child grooming remains a relatively new phenomenon in Indonesia, its detrimental impact on minors necessitates urgent legislative action. By enacting dedicated laws and policies, the Indonesian government can provide law enforcement agencies with the necessary tools to effectively address and mitigate the prevalence of child grooming, ensuring the protection and well-being of the nation’s youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns parenting assessments which are integral to child-safeguarding professional processes in England, and which involve Deaf parents whose primary language is British Sign Language (BSL). In an under-researched area of social work, the research aim was to contribute to the existing literature by eliciting the practice wisdom of specialist professionals. Specifically, it draws upon their linguistic and cultural knowledge of the Deaf community when they are involved in parenting assessments with Deaf parents who are subject to safeguarding concerns. Data about these professionals' actual experiences of navigating Deaf cultural-competency in contemporary child protection practices were collected through seven video-recorded, semi-structured interviews conducted in BSL. Using interpretive phenomenological analysis, data were analysed in their source language (BSL). This article focusses on one key theme, termed 'Professional Recognition', which incorporates a) the identification of specialist roles and b) the impact of referral processes and protocols on assessment outcomes. The findings highlight participants' perspectives on the benefits and disadvantages of their specialist role in this context. Although their brokerage skills, cultural competence, linguistic fluency and specialist knowledge of the Deaf community are highly regarded and valued by some colleagues, there is insufficient recognition of their existence by the majority. Secondly, participants are concerned by the inefficiency and inconsistency of the referral processes and protocols which they consider have adverse effects on assessment outcomes, and consequently the parents involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]