ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that contemporary debates about prevention and protection, family-centred or child-centred have been constructed primarily by academics and professionals without focusing on the experience of clients and front line workers. The research method was an adaptation of participatory action research. The research questions was formulated by the researchers but, beyond that, the participants were free to proceed as they wished. Without doubt, the workers and women/mothers who participated in various aspects of the project came away with some significant changes in their perspectives. Some workers were clear that they did not wish to practice in this fashion. The experience of women and their workers in re-designing child welfare raises some fundamental questions about conceptions of child welfare. Time after time, participants described a child welfare system that undermined their confidence and made them feel like ‘second class citizens’.
