ABSTRACT
Child protection is a major element in the practice of social work that covers both family-based care and institutional care. Family welfare institutions encounter many challenges when dealing with child protection services in Nigeria. These include, inter alia, a shortage of competent and/or experienced professional social workers; matters of child rights violations and weak implementation of laws prohibiting the abuse and exploitation of children. Social workers’ core responsibilities within the context of children's welfare include responding to cases of child abuse and neglect, removing children from dangerous home settings that are not compliant with regulatory standards, and working with children and their families. For social workers to meet with these multi-tasks, support is needed from the government to address the child protection challenges encountered during practice. Additionally, there is a need for social work education to be focused on understanding cultural sensitivity, child development, and child rights with knowledge of child protection laws and policies. Strengthening the legal framework and ensuring that laws are enforced through the application of social work education will help to protect children from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Secondary data are utilised in exploring these child protection challenges encountered by social workers.
