Information guides the future of child welfare
Attendees of the National Child Welfare Days in Jyväskylä in October discussed what kind of information is needed the most in the field of child welfare and why it is crucial for the welfare of children and families. Better availability and utilisation of information in everyday work were also highlighted in the discussions.
Child Welfare Days brought together a large number of professionals from different parts of Finland, even though the financial situations of the wellbeing services counties made participation a challenge in places. The programme included several speeches, and this year’s theme was “With heart and perseverance”. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare’s child welfare team participated in the event at our own booth, where we met child welfare professionals and surveyed their views using an inclusive online tool. The questions concerned in particular the information needs in child welfare that support the strengthening of the knowledge base, which is one of our team’s key priorities in 2024–2027.
As part of the Child Welfare Days programme, we organised a subseminar on the key themes of the national network of child welfare developers. These themes are the role and division of labour of the responsible social worker, the scope of ‘door’ in child welfare – should it be broadened or narrowed, quality and impact assessment indicators and multidisciplinary cooperation in substance abuse and mental health work, drawing on systemic principles.
The significance of knowledge base in child welfare
We have launched a knowledge base survey on child welfare, as there is no comprehensive overview of the national knowledge base and its gaps. A strong knowledge base is essential as a basis for decision-making and to support development. The purpose of the survey is to identify information gaps. Filling these gaps would strengthen the competence of professionals and enable the monitoring of the effectiveness of child welfare measures. This way, we can focus on developing the right matters and ensure that child welfare is in the best interests of the child and those working in child welfare have the information and tools they need to provide high-quality child welfare services.
What kind of information is needed the most?
At the Child Welfare Days, we asked the attendees to tell us the areas where more information and research are needed. The options were placement, substitute care, open care, information on effectiveness, experiential knowledge and ‘something else’.
The results were clear with information on effectiveness as the most cited option, as nearly half of the respondents considered it the largest information gap. Experiential knowledge came in second, and the respondents also indicated that more information about open care, placement and substitute care is needed. Those who responded ‘something else’ highlighted the need to study child poverty, family care, the rights of girls, immigrants, cultural and linguistic diversity and managing work-related stress. The quality and effectiveness of child welfare were also highlighted in the subseminar we held during the Child Welfare Days, in which we surveyed how the areas that need development can be seen in the attendees’ work.
Hope for better future
We also wanted to hear from professionals, which gives hope for the future of child welfare. The professionals highlighted research data, professional commitment, continuity of development and better consideration of the needs of children and families.
‘Children’ was cited as the most important thing that brings hope.
Towards more effective child welfare
The foundation of effective child welfare is a strong and reliable knowledge base. A long-term research process is a key part of this, as it produces in-depth, peer-reviewed and widely utilisable information that can withstand time and guide development strategically. Such research makes it possible to gain a better understanding, assess effectiveness and base decision-making on robust evidence-based data.
At the same time, we know that the practical implementation of evidence-based information may be slow, even though the need for information is often acute. Therefore, in the future, one option could also be to make more use of faster methods, such as what are known as R3 (rapid, responsive, relevant) studies. These studies utilise lighter and faster data collection that produces material and sufficiently reliable data to support decision-making. Long-term research and agile methods could complement each other to ensure that the development of child welfare progresses both in depth and in a timely manner.
Read more
Rapid evaluation of service innovations in health and social care (NIHR Journals Library)