ABSTRACT

This chapter considers how the new child welfare policies in Russia can best be brought into practice. It analyses the perceptions of street-level child welfare practitioners in different sectors – public (state), third (NGOs), and private (foster parents) – and examines their views on the ideal implementation of the new ideas. The concept of ideals (of care) is used in order to emphasise that child welfare (policy) is not only about economics or institutions; it is also moral discussion of what is supposed to constitute good care. To analyse the expert positions, we apply the strategic interaction theory, which posits we must distinguish between (policy) arenas and their players. Child welfare reform is conceptualised as an arena which is structured by rules and resources. We focus our analysis on differently positioned key players who engage in the game according to their goals, using their own capabilities and resources to gain a more powerful position. Even if the priority of family care is widely shared, each of the three players have a different view of the ideal organisation, which corresponds with their existing resources and what they potentially stand to gain in the game. These views in turn correspond with different approaches to the organisation of alternative care, be they statist, neo-liberal, or community-based.