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Policymakers increasingly emphasize the importance of achieving meaningful participation of children living in residential care. To achieve the goal of participation, children must be adequately informed, have opportunities to express themselves freely and to be heard, and be given the opportunity to influence decisions about their lives. This study investigated the views and experiences of both children and staff with respect to children's participation in residential facilities in Norway. We conducted both focus‐group and individual interviews with 6 children and 18 staff members at different facilities. Qualitative interview data were analysed using the dimensions of meaningful participation: informing, hearing and involving. The study offers three main findings. First, children's initiatives determine if staff inform them of their rights, with two exceptions: children are presented with information by staff when they arrive at a facility and/or after staff use coercion that requires protocols. Second, staff members expressed the importance of listening to children's opinions in a standardized way, following bureaucratic guidelines and structures. Third, several children stated that, no matter what they say, they cannot change the minds of staff members. These findings reveal that the dimensions of meaningful participation (informing, hearing and involving) are not all fully present at these facilities. Further research is needed to determine how to achieve in practice the policy goal of participation of children in residential care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Sweden, preventive support groups for children exposed to domestic violence, substance abuse or mental illness are provided by local child protection services (CPS). The stigma of parental problems and contact with CPS are barriers to recruiting children. This article investigates how such barriers are experienced and handled by professional support group leaders. The empirical data is drawn from five group interviews with 16 professionals, recruited from a purposive sample of nine local authorities in Sweden. It is found that professionals experience stigma as a barrier to recruiting children, mainly the parents' shame but also their fear of CPS involvement. Professionals describe parents' problems on a 'scale of shamefulness', ranging from divorce to domestic violence, and the barriers vary in strength relative to the shamefulness of the problem. Parents are gatekeepers for their children's participation, so destigmatizing and shame‐reducing strategies, whether on the interpersonal, organizational or structural level, are called for to increase children's access. However, strategies targeting parental shame are not without their challenges and risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children exposed to domestic violence account for as many as a third of all children in the United States. Many of these children will seek mental health treatment for symptoms of trauma. The clinicians who provide their treatment are often called as witnesses in family law proceedings, especially child protection and custody cases. Clinicians are often anxious when they receive subpoenas to testify and prefer to avoid testimony. Training about court proceedings, subpoenas and how to prepare for testimony would be beneficial for clinicians and will help clinicians be more confident in the courtroom. Additionally, becoming designated as expert witnesses can only help mental health clinicians provide a greater understanding of the issues encountered by children experiencing domestic violence, and these clinicians can provide recommendations that will take into account child safety without exacerbating trauma symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In domestic violence (DV) shelters, offering psychosocial support services to mothers and children is vital. The program 'Time for Tony the Turtle' has been developed for mothers and children residing in DV shelters in the Netherlands. It aims to foster attachment and regulation skills, which can also prepare for trauma treatment if sought after later on. This qualitative study explores the experiences of mothers, children and professionals with the program and its perceived impact and what components function as facilitators and barriers in the implementation of such a program in DV crisis shelters in the Netherlands. We conducted in‐depth interviews with 15 mothers, 11 children and 18 professionals from three organizations offering DV shelters. We used thematic analysis to identify patterns of meaning in the interviews. Mothers, children and professionals valued that the program provided a calm moment for reflection in hectic times and that the playfulness in which the program addressed trauma‐related topics. However, mothers find it difficult to attend the program in the beginning of their shelter stay, therefore hampering the applicability of the program. Our findings suggest that integrating the topic of discussing father in a program in crisis shelters is complex and deserves more attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]