Making Decisions about Children in Care: A study of case conferences

This paper studies the decision-making processes that occur in child welfare case conferences. Using a small sample of eight case conferences the study focuses on the way child welfare professionals and parents interact in formulating constructions of “children’s needs” and “parental competence”. The case conference setting, group composition, sequence and the relationships between the health and welfare professionals present are also identified as key factors in influencing the outcome of the case conference.