oa Inzetten op empowerment van ouders in de gedwongen jeugdzorg

Encouraging parental empowerment in child protection services

In youth care, parental empowerment is increasingly being seen as an efficient way to improve family functioning. In child protection services, parents may perceive the power differences and strains between them and youth professionals as an obstacle to work effectively on their empowerment. In this article, we conducted a literature review to explore what is known about strengthening parental empowerment in child protection services. Between March 2015 and February 2016, (inter)national scientific literature was searched concerning factors influencing parental empowerment in child protection services. The relevance of studies was established by using in- and exclusion criteria. Factors influencing parental empowerment can be found on the level of the client (for instance, family functioning and the social network) and on the level of the professional (relational components and participation components). This literature review is a first step towards knowledge about what can be done to strengthen empowerment of parents in child protection services. Since few studies have focused on parents in child protection services, more research concerning parental empowerment in this specific context has to be done.