Seeing eye to eye or not? Young people's and child protection workers' perspectives on children's participation within the Dutch child protection and welfare services

The level of participation that occurs and the different perspectives of young people and case managers show that there is currently no meaningful dialogue between the case manager and the young person. The knowledge and the experience of young people are not taken seriously, given the proper value or acted upon in the process of youth care. Although social scientists have shown that children are knowledgeable social actors, the practice of child protection is falling behind. Interventions to decrease barriers to participation should therefore focus on the case managers' perspectives of children and childhood, encouraging them to not only see but also approach children as knowledgeable social actors.