This comparative research project on child welfare services ran from September 2012 to June 2017.
The aim of the project was to identify some decisive factors and mechanisms in different welfare state arrangements and child welfare systems that promote or hinder high quality decision-making in the best interests of children and families.
An easy-to-read summary of the findings from the project is available here (norwegian).
- Professor Marit Skivenes, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen (Norway)
- Professor Jill Duerr Berrick, School of Social Welfare and Center for Child and Youth Policy, UC Berkeley (USA)
- Professor Tarja Pösö, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tampere (Finland)
- Dr. Jonathan Dickens, School of Social Work, University of East Anglia (England)
- Associate professor Kristine Bærøe, Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen (Norway)
- Associate professor Anne-Mette Magnussen, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Bergen University College (Norway)
- Researcher, Milfrid Tonheim, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen (Norway)
Ph.D. students
- PhD Student Line Sørsdal, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen (Norway)
- PhD Student Ida Benedicte Juhasz, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen (Norway)
- PhD Student Øyvind Samnøy Tefre, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Bergen University College (Norway)
Master’s students
- Master’s student Vilde Tøfte Øvstetun, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen (Norway)
- Master’s student Marie Topaas Storm, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen (Norway)
Facts
Project period
- September 2012 – June 2017
Countries
- Norway
- Finland
- England
- USA
Funding
- Norwegian Research Council
- External funding from Finland, England and the U.S.
Research ambitions
- Analyse the interaction between different settings (institutional, political and legal) and how they influence actual decision-making in the child welfare area
- Critical examination of the quality of decisions in child welfare/child protection
- Evaluate successes and failures, and understand why and how child welfare systems can provide children at risk with the necessary means to grow up as healthy individuals