Abstract
Child welfare services in Norway aim to provide a comprehensive and holistic policy and practice approach. This includes a range of in-home support measures to support parents and their children to resolve challenges. Youth and child participation are basic rights within the Norwegian Child Welfare Services (CWS) context, grounded in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the constitution, and the Child Welfare Act. While recent research has identified youth and children more often being consulted, the involvement of youth and children in their own child welfare services measures is limited and more should be done to facilitate meaningful participation. This article presents findings from a recently completed qualitative study in Norway focusing on child and youth participation in the specialist CWS measures Multisystemic Therapy (MST), Parent Management Training – Oregon (PMTO), and Functional Family Therapy (FFT). A total of 78 participants contributed to this study (21 children and youth, 27 parents/care givers, and 30 therapists/CWS workers). Findings are analysed thematically across measures and different informant groups. While the ideal is for children and youths to fully participate in all aspects of their CWS measures, the dilemma is that models developed to facilitate this risk becoming procedural.