Participation in Residential Childcare: Safeguarding Children’s Rights Through Participation and Complaint Procedures

Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child establishes the right to participation: children and adolescents are entitled to participate and to have their views taken into account in all issues affecting them in accordance to their age and maturity. The volume explores this right to participation in residential care. The impact of participation and complaint procedures in residential care facilities are evaluated by means of crucial results from an empirical study. How do these participation and complaints procedures work? The authors discuss crucial facilitators and barriers with regard to the implementation of children’s rights to participate.

Claudia Equit is a professor of Social Pedagogy, Pedagogy, in particular Comparative Youth Welfare Services Research at Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany.