Children participation in the case management process

Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania

Abstract

In 1989 The provision of Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defined the child’s right to participate - to express his/her opinion and to participate in solving issues related and affecting him/her. In Lithuania, the abundance of legal acts enforces the child’s right to participate, but in practice it is observed that the implementation of the child’s right to participate is not sufficiently ensured. The case management process, as a way of helping the child and/or his/her family, came into force in Lithuania in 2018, but the implementation of the child’s right to participate in the context of the case management process is poorly analyzed in the scientific literature. Scientists from Lithuania and abroad advocate the importance of involving the child in the decision-making process, since this is how their most important skills are formed and their ability to cope with stress increases. The data of the implemented qualitative research revealed twofold approach of case management professionals to the participation of the child and becoming him/her a participant of the case management process. The abundance of professionals’ experience reflects the absence of a common practice that enables the child to participate.