Exploring Parents' Perspectives of Their Rights within the Context of the Child Welfare System: A Photovoice Study

Background: The mission of the U.S. child welfare system is to protect children from child maltreatment and promote child safety, permanency, and well-being through a range of different services and interventions. Although a number of researchers have concluded that the current structure and function of the child welfare system supports child and family well-being, there have been substantive calls for reform of the system due to research indicating null or negative impacts of child welfare involvement on parents and families, as well as infringement upon their rights. The purpose of this qualitative photovoice study was to define, deconstruct, and explore strategies for promoting parent rights for those impacted by the child welfare system.

Methods: This study included 10 parents (five mothers; five fathers) who had been impacted or were currently impacted by the child welfare system. Participants were recruited by a parent advocacy organization. Analysis procedures followed the stages of photovoice methodology described by Wang and Burris (1997). Parents created and selected photographs representing their experiences, contextualized each image, sharing what it means to them in their own words, and discussed the issues that emerged from the data. Grounded theory procedures were also used between and after sessions to bring emerging ideas back to the group and used by the research team to clarify themes through a constant comparative method (Charmaz, 2006).

Results: Themes, pictures, and quotes, as well as parent- and research-supported recommendations will be discussed in more detail during the presentation. Parents in this study often viewed the child welfare system as a source of unfulfilled or unprotected rights due to the lack of support for parents’ needs (e.g., substance use treatment) or the perceived deliberate violation of parental rights or family integrity by child welfare professionals or other allied service professionals (e.g., being denied contact with family members at initial child separation; encouragement for the parents to divorce to so the child welfare case would move faster through the system; constant in-home visits immediately after getting off of work). Multiple parents viewed their or their family’s attempts at maintaining rights as at odds with child welfare system regulations.

Conclusions/Implications: Authors continue to meet with study participants for dissemination planning in alignment with the primary implications of this study of achieving (1) self-advocacy and empowerment for participants and (2) community change through social action. Photovoice studies allow for deep and meaningful explorations of people’s lives (Parker-Maneja, 2021). Participants in this process explored both recent and past experiences relevant to their involvement in the child welfare system, as well as the impact of being involved in the child welfare system. Participants reflected on the heaviness of rights but also the importance of talking about their experiences. Photovoice has been shown as an empowering process in promoting self-reflection, making important social connections with various types of community members or groups, educating others, and becoming more aware of their community overall (Budig et al., 2018). The presenters will provide updates on the social action statement and activities that followed this project.