1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The present research aims to identify and examine the factors that influence the decision-making process at initial assessment with racialized families from the workers’ point of view.» (p. 3)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
Authors «conducted a bilingual (French and English) grounded theory study over a period of three years (2014–2017) with seven teams based in two Montreal protection agencies (one anglophone, one francophone).» (p. 3) Sample included 18 Child protection workers (CPWs).

Instruments :
Guide d’entretien semi-directif

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

This study highlights «specificity of the intercultural context and the specific challenges that may emerge from it. The tacit expertise of those who carry out frontline child protection work is too often unacknowledged, and this exploratory study has shown the value of starting from their expertise to build up a critical decision-making process that will improve services to vulnerable children and families. […] The workers in [the] study did not propose a specific amount of time that would be more suitable to perform their evaluation with racialized families, giving us a sense, as has been discussed by others, that the ideal time delay needs to be flexible in relation to the context if the case […]. If, as mentioned by [the] participants, CPWs end up doing significant work to provide information and education about Quebec’s social context to racialized families, it should entail at least that they receive training on those matters so that they can inform the families properly. They should also be given enough time and support to do so appropriately during the assessment process. That the time constraint is even more pressing with racialized families illustrates how child protection work cannot be disentangled from more extensive shortcomings in Quebec’s social security network, where CPWs are now often the first “state workers” many racialized families encounter.» (p. 7)