1. British Academy UK. Latin America Link Programme
Birmingham, UK. June 2013
Family and Social Policy: Towards Family Minded Policy and whole family practice (second seminar)

2. UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE NUEVO LEÓN
FACULTAD DE TRABAJO SOCIAL Y DESARROLLO HUMANO
Family and child protection system
An approach to family definition of mexican and swedish
social workers
Sandra Elizabet Mancinas Espinoza
Eunice Martínez

3. Objective
To present a first approach on family definition of Mexican and Swedish social workers who work in the child welfare system in their respective countries

4. An overview of mexican and swedish child protection system

5. Children's entry into child welfare in Sweden
Application from the family
Report from others:
school, a neighbor etc.
Report from
social services:
someone working with parents addiction, etc.
Application or Referral
Social workers screen individuals/families to determine whether there is need for services
Gatekeeping or needs assessment
Social workers decide to open an investigation.
Refers the family to family support that does not need a decision from social services
Social workers decide to not open an investigation.
Decision making
Support
No support
Service
By Viktoria Skoog

6. Child investigation and interventions in Sweden
Social worker makes a plan for the investigation together with the family. The investigation has to be complete in four months. The social worker gathers information, assesses, makes a decision and shares the investigation and the decision with the family.
Decision
No intervention
Support to the family in their home.
Out-of-home care.
Social worker make a plan for the purpose of the intervention
Social workers make a plan for the purpose of the interventions
The family and child over 15 consent
The family and child over 15 do not consent
Voluntary care
Application for compulsory care
Application approved
Application is not approved
No intervention
Social worker make a plan for the interventions
The child and the family get the intervention
Every six months the social worker follows up the interventions
By Viktoria Skoog

7. Children's entry into child welfare in Mexico (focus in children abuse)
Reporting through the mass media
Children without families
Report from others:
school, a neighbor
Report from
social services:
someone working with parents addiction, health system, etc.
Application from the family
The social services lawyer prepares a special document for the social worker who initiate an investigation (asignación)
Application or Referral
Social workers interview/families, neighbor, teachers, to determine whether there is need for services
Needs assessment and decision
making
Support
No support
Service
By Sandra Mancinas

8. Child investigation and interventions in Mexico
Social worker makes an investigation about the children family (Including the extended family). The social worker gathers information, and shares the investigation with special council.
Decision is made for special team (social work, lawyer and psychologist
External intervention
Institutional care short time
Institutional care long time
Back to home
(Social worker follow up the intervention once a week
Adoption
(An other Social worker follow up the intervention)
The family can visit the children and participate in special sessions about positive parentality
Social worker make a plan for the purpose of the intervention
An other Social worker make a plan for the purpose of the intervention
Social worker make a plan for the interventions
The child and the family get the intervention, The focus is the children
Periodically the social worker follows up the interventions and present inform to special team
The especial team decides institutionalization end
By Sandra Mancinas

9. Method Case studies Deep interviews
Focus groups (vignette designed by Lennart Nygren and Siv Oltedal)

10. Method Participants Focus group Deep interview
Mexican social workers in public institutions
(one)
Swedish social workers in public institutions
(one)
Mexican social workers in private institutions
(two)
Swedish social workers in private institutions
(two)

11. Analysis categories preliminary
Method
The analysis of information will be made through the content analysis technique
The software MAXQDA it will used
Analysis categories preliminary
Own family
Ideal family
Typical family on the protection child services

12. Preliminary approaches

13. Category
Text
Mexican
Swedish
Own family
Major family diversity
Single parent headed by women (3)
Nuclear family (1)
Extended family (1)
Nuclear family remarried
All of them included extended family in their definition
Ideal/typical family
They consider that there are differences between ideal and typical family
Typical
“está predominando la jefa de familia con hijos, yo siento que es la que predomina ahorita”
“Ya es la típica [la jefa de familia]”
Ideal
“definitivamente es la nuclear”
“Inclusive debería de ser la típica”
…mother, father and they have children and then they are separated and they have their own families. This is more typical now that it was 20 years ago…
It's probably true that children live together with two parents but they may not both be biological. And, the most probably don’t live with just one parent.
Typical family on the protection child services
[Una familia con necesidades económicas] “el apoyo en alimento, en cuestiones de becas, esa creo que la que predomina mucho”
“Una sola [mujer sola] con sus hijos. [Jefa de familia es una mujer sola que vive con sus hijos, en México existe un programa para este tipo de familia que están en pobreza]”
“I think in the two years that I have been working, I have only encountered parents that are divorced or separated. I cannot think of one where they were still together”
“It might be that we meet mother and partner or father and partner. So, not just single parents. There are often two parents. Or even 4 parents though there are really just 2 who have actually custody of the child. Then these families are often in conflict. They are high conflict parents that we meet”

14. Thank you!