“We are merchandise on a conveyer belt”: How young adults in the public child protection system perceive their participation in decisions about their care

The aim of this study is to show young people's feelings about their experiences with participation in decision-making in public care. The study is based on semi-structured, in-depth interviews with eight young adults in the public child protection system in a northeastern state in the U.S. conducted between 2015 and 2016. All study participants had made both positive and negative experiences with participation. Most reported negative experiences at the point of their first entry into care, and most reported positive experiences when signing themselves back into the care of the child protection system when they turned 18. Further, we found barriers and pathways to participation at the individual child's or youth's level, including a child's or youth's ability to self-advocate, access to information, and age. Organizational-level factors that affected a child or young person's participation included the child protection agency's view of the child or youth; the agency's view of the parents; the quality of legal representation, and the type of rapport between social workers and children or young people in care. We discuss the implications of these findings on theory and policy.