Karmen Toros

• Professor
• Professor at Tallinn University

16-Apr-2025 Dear Toros, Karmen; Falch-Eriksen, Asgeir; Lysa, Olha, “Parents’ voices on parental engagement in Child Protective Services” - JCS-08-2023-0046.R2 Congratulations on having your article accepted for publication. Please find a PDF of your Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) attached. Please ensure you store this safely, as you will need...

This study explores the experiences of eleven Ukrainian refugee parents in Estonia following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, with a focus on their adaptation. Upon arrival, their emotions ranged from uncertainty and insecurity to relief at finding a safe sanctuary. Adaptation challenges included language barriers, bureaucratic hurdles, and li...

This practice note discusses graduate students’ reflections on experiences with using solution-focused approaches with children in Child Protective Services, specifically scaling and miracle questions. Miracle and scaling questions are considered child-centered questions because they are non-judgmental and creative, explore children’s needs, wishes...

Full access to the article: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1iTWXhNfL1EXB This study explores the experiences of Ukrainian refugee children in Estonia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 with a focus on their daily functioning, challenges, and resilience. Three main themes emerged from interviews carried out from October through Decem...

This article presents empirical findings about children’s experiences in the closed childcare institution service (CCIS) in Estonia and the assistance children receive from their own perspectives and those of parents and practitioners. The study draws on the lived experiences of 12 children/young people, four parents, and 26 practitioners working w...

This article examines current literature on the use of digital technology in social work education. The systematic review follows the PRISMA statement and includes 14 peer-reviewed articles published in multiple academic journals from 2013 to 2021 reporting primary research with social work students and educators. Four main themes emerged from data...

Alle barn har rett til å uttrykke seg i saker som angår dem. Hvordan blir denne rettigheten overholdt gjennom barnevernets praksisfelt og når beslutninger skal fattes? Forfatterne diskuterer og forklarer hvordan barnets rett til å uttale seg i egen sak kan forstås gjennom sentrale utfordringsbilder fra barnevernets praksis. Barnets rett til å utt...

According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, children have the right to voice their opinions and participate in decision-making in matters affecting their lives. Furthermore, professionals working with children have the responsibility to always make the best interests of the child the priority when contemplating decisions...

In this seminar, CIRIC (Centre for Advanced Research on Integrity, Rights and Inclusion of the Child) team presents their research on child participation based on the book Professional Practice in Child Protection and the Child’s Right to Participate. Current research literature documents across countries, how either the voice of the child is not...

The pandemic of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected millions of children and families worldwide, disrupting their daily lives and impacting the ability of Child Protective Services (CPS) to respond to children in need. This small-scale study involving 23 child protective workers from local governments in different regions of Estoni...

Kuigi viimasel aastakümnel on laste osalusele pööratud rahvusvaheliselt palju tähelepanu, on laste osalus lastekaitsetöös endiselt suur väljakutse. Lastekaitsetöötajal on aga juhtiv roll lapse osaluse julgustamisel lastekaitsesüsteemis, sh osalus lapse igapäevaelu ja tulevikuga seotud otsustes. Seega keskendub raamat lapse osalusele, tuginedes laps...

Child protection assessments activate children’s rights in a particular manner as Child Protective Services (CPS) must intervene based on the apparent risk to the child. Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) dictates that certain components of the assessment must directly address children’s rights. In this chapter, we will d...

The participation of children in Child Protective Services (CPS) remains one of the most complex and sensitive areas of child welfare practice. Internationally, children do not participate in CPS decision-making processes regarding their lives: they are not listened to or heard, and are invisible despite the ratification of the Convention on the Ri...

In the conclusion we summarize the lessons learned throughout the book and provide a road-map for professional practice. Main notions (concept of participation, meaningful worker-child relationships, working together with the child, workers’ role in enforcing participation right, the use of tools and methods), which emerged across the chapters, wil...

This book explains and discusses how a child’s right to freedom of expression is upheld through practice and decision-making in Child Protection Services (CPS). Using the right to expression as stipulated in Article 12.2 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as a point of departure, it explains what CPS practices should...

The number of children affected by family dissolution is increasing worldwide. Beneficially, a growing number of both parents desire to remain active in their children’s lives, favouring the practice of shared care. Unfortunately, this has introduced new dilemmas that can negatively impact children’s well-being. One example is the controversial top...

Riskis laste õigeaegse tuvastamise ja tulemusliku abistamise süsteemi täiustamise uuringul on viis eesmärki: (i) saada terviklik ülevaade riskiteguritest, mis viisid lapse riskikäitumiseni ja lõpuks kinnise lasteasutuse teenusele (KLAT), (ii) omandada ülevaade, kas ja millist abi pakkus kohalik omavalitsus ja sealne võrgustik lapsele ja lapse perel...

This literature review is a part of the larger five-objective study, a study about improving the system of timely identification and effective support of at-risk youth: life path lessons of youth in secure care facilities. One of the objectives of the study is to analyze other countries’ knowledge and practices related to early identification of ch...

The pandemic of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected children and families worldwide, disrupting their daily lives and well-being. A small-scale study involving 13 parents in Child Protective Services in Estonia was conducted using in-depth, semi-structured interviews to explore parents’ experiences with COVID-19 and its impact on t...

This paper examines and reflects on a storytelling method that enables children to share their life stories in the intervention and decision-making process associated with child protection evaluations. The child is granted an active role in this process by directly participating in telling their life experiences. The example described herein centre...

Building a collaborative relationship with an involuntary parent is challenging, however, the worker-client relationship is essential to promoting the well-being of the child and family. This article describes a small-scale qualitative study conducted with child protective workers in one region of Estonia. Findings indicate that in order to encoura...

This study investigates children’s experiences concerning the effect of the containment measures associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on their daily lives. A small-scale study using in-depth, semi-structured interviews was conducted in Estonia with 10 children registered with Child Protective Services (CPS) as in need of assistance....

Child participation in child protection assessments (CPAs) and practices is complex. There has been growing international interest and debate concerning child participation in Child Protective Services (CPS), with an emphasis on the importance of children’s rights. Despite the acknowledgment of children’s rights and general support for their inclus...

This paper examines the academic research discourse on strengths-based practice in child welfare. A gap in the literature exists concerning systematic research studies addressing strengths-based practices with families in the child welfare system. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to examine how a strengths-based approach facilitates working rela...

Purpose: This article explores children’s views and experiences of participation within the context of child protection assessment practice. The findings of this study enable child protection workers as well as other professionals to learn from children, what is needed to better engage children to participate in matters affecting them. Method: A sm...

The current study sought to investigate the agreement between teachers and parents about the mental health of first-grade students, the factors that affected this agreement and the associations between measures completed by students, parents and teachers. The investigation used baseline data collected during the PAX Good Behavior Game (PAX GBG) eff...

Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) provides children with the right to express their views in matters that affect them, particularly those of an administrative and judicial nature. This paper examines the academic discourse in child protection research concerning how Article 12 of the CRC is implemented and how it is m...

This paper examines the role of interprofessional collaboration in the identification and reporting of a child in need. Such collaboration is especially important in the context of the global pandemic caused by the novel Coronavirus disease of 2019, known as COVID-19. The child protection system must have the capacity and resources to respond to in...

This paper explores child welfare workers’ experiences of children’s participation in decision-making in the child protection system. The systematic review follows the principles of the PRISMA statement and includes 12 peer-reviewed articles published in academic journals from 2009 to 2019. Findings indicate that children’s participation in decisio...

This study analyzed the co-creation of new initiatives in the communities of Võru County in Estonia from the perspectives of media re ection and communication. A social hackathon was used as a method for co-creation, bringing stakeholders together to develop innovative service solutions. Data were collected during three social hackathons in 2018 an...

This article reflects on the experiences of Estonian social work undergraduate students with a five-phased structured peer group supervision model, consisting of information, clarification, analysis, feedback and reflection phases. This kind of systematic case reflection enables the generation and critical exploration of new perspectives and soluti...

Kevadine COVID-19 pandeemia muutis lühikese ajaga väga paljude inimeste tavapärast elu- ja töökorraldust. Nii oli ka lastekaitsetöös pandeemia ajal mitmeid asjaolusid, mis tegid töö tavapärasest keerulisemaks. Kevadel tehtud uuring näitab, kuidas mõjutas pandeemia Eesti lastekaitsetöötajate tööd ning mis oli laste ja perede toetamisel kõige suurema...

Social work education has a responsibility to prepare students for their future profession, including the challenges they may encounter. This chapter describes the empirical results of a qualitative study on social work students’ (n = 68) experiences and perspectives exploring their learning experiences during their field placement and challenges o...

This paper examines the perspectives of child protection workers (CPWs) (n = 106) on the participation of children in child protection practice in Estonia. The findings indicated that child participation was most related to the term “asking a child’s opinion.” On a theoretical level, CPWs considered the asking of a child’s opinion to be significant...

In 2019 the novel Coronavirus COVID-19 was discovered, and the following year the World Health Organization declared a pandemic. This pandemic is unprecedented in human history and affects all aspects of life. In this article, we explore the pandemic’s impact on child protective services in Estonia and survey a representative sample of child protec...

This article examines children’s views on and experiences with participation in the child protection system’s decision-making process. The systematic review follows the PRISMA statement and includes 12 peer-reviewed articles published in academic journals from 2006 to 2017. Findings suggest children’s contact with their worker was limited or non-ex...

Lapse õigus olla ära kuulatud ja osaleda teda puudutavate otsuste tegemisel tuleneb rahvusvahelisest õigusest, mida toetab ka Eesti seadusandlus. Kuigi lapse kaasamise tähtsust tema huvide väljaselgitamisel ja heaolu hindamisel rõhutatakse Eestis üha enam, ei arvestata lastega veel piisavalt. Käesolev artikkel tutvustab kvalitatiivse uurimuse tulem...

This chapter presents the results of a study of the experiences of interprofessional collaboration and teamwork among academics based on the Kirkpatrick-Barr framework of interprofessional education (IPE) outcomes within the context of implementing the LIFE (Learning in Interdisciplinary Focused Environment) interdisciplinary course. The findings s...

Internationally, parental engagement is considered crucial in child welfare practice in terms of client change and the potential to improve client outcomes. However, parental engagement is challenging for child welfare practice. This article describes the empirical results of perspectives and experiences of 11 parents’ engagement in child protectio...

Drawing on three semi-structured focus group interviews with a sample of 14 social hackathon participants in southern Estonia, this article reports the findings of participants’ experiences of the co-creation process in developing new services or innovative solutions to community problems by using a method of social hackathon. In general, hackathon...

Collaborative service delivery models are recognized as a best practice for youth receiving juvenile justice services and for those who are dually involved, i.e., also receiving child protection services. This study adds to the literature that has provided youth, parents, and professionals an opportunity to voice their perspectives on interprofessi...

This article describes the empirical results of a study on bird’s nest parenting as a form of shared parenting. Bird’s nest parenting ensures that children have both a stable home with the continuity of their prior lifestyle and the chance to live everyday life with both parents. A small-scale study included nine child protection workers from one r...

This article describes an exploratory qualitative study in Estonia that focuses on how child protection workers (N = 93) perceive and understand the meaning and value of self-reflection. Participants discussed self-reflection in the context of self-analysis, motivation to improve professional performance, negative self-appraisal, and feedback from...

This study provides insight into change processes of child residential care as depicted by ethnographic research on Estonian SOS Children’s Villages (SOS CV). Through the analysis of daily life in substitute homes, this study aimed to gain an in-depth and contextualised understanding of this deinstitutionalisation process. The changing approach of...

Objective This article describes the results of a scoping review to better understand child welfare professionals' and service users' (families' and children's) perspectives on and experiences with family engagement in the child protection system. Method Forty peer-reviewed academic journals from multiple scientific databases published in English...

This article offers some insight into how undergraduate social work students perceive their own strengths and weaknesses. This qualitative research study explored responses from 51 s-year students. Participant responses revealed five main themes in strengths and weaknesses categories: characteristic features, client work related, communication skil...

This article reflects on Estonian practitioners’ voices to researchers and other practitioners by sharing their experiences of the solution-focused technique, ‘the miracle question’, they found useful in constructing solutions. This technique promoted thinking about becoming a better practitioner, empowerment, and the need to move away from traditi...

This exploratory study examines Estonian social work graduate students’ (n = 46) understanding of strength-eliciting questions in the context of social work assessment, using a quasi-experimental, pre/post-test research design. Students’ responses indicate some changes in their reflections of strength-eliciting questions after the training course....

Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to study an interprofessional assessment model in rehabilitation services and its implementation in Estonia based on (1) a sample of rehabilitation plans for 160 juvenile offenders aged 7–18 and (2) expert interviews with 10 members of an interprofessional assessment team. Each specialist’s ro...

The PAX Good Behavior Game (PAX GBG) is a universal classroom-based program that promotes children's mental health. In Estonia, the intervention is delivered to first grade students (aged seven to eight) within the regular school curriculum. The current work describes a protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the PAX GBG conduct...

Deinstitutionalization is a key issue in the field of social policy. The community-based services movement has challenged the role of institutions as far back as the 1950s, but it is a relatively new development in Central and Eastern Europe. EU membership and the use of structural funds have been key elements of change in many countries; however,...

Drawing on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a sample of 11 child protection workers and 11 parents in southern Estonia, this article reports the findings of participants’ experiences of and perspectives on parental engagement in the context of child protection assessment. The four themes that emerge from the content analysis suggest that p...

Engagement in the context of child protection is of significant international interest, as the participation of family is a central notion in child and family social work. Drawing on in-depth, semistructured interviews with a sample of 26 child protection workers in 1 region in Estonia, this article reports the findings of the participants' perspec...

Objective This article describes empirical results of the views of child protection workers, parents and children along different dimensions including interpretation of engagement, approaches with families in the engagement process, collaboration and relationship, barriers and factors promoting engagement. Method A qualitative study was undertaken...

Child protective workers must be able to evaluate children's developmental needs in order to assess problems and delays. Skilful and comprehensive assessment leads to outcomes for children that promote their well-being and development. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study on a sample of Estonian child protective workers that inve...

This article presents the findings of a small-scale, qualitative study that included 20 child protective workers from different regions in Estonia. The research question guiding this study was as follows: What principles underpin child protective workers’ assessment activities in cases with child protection concerns? The respondents provided exampl...

This exploratory study examines how Estonian graduate social work students’ reflections of the solution-focused approach in the context of child protection assessment can change as a result of coursework in this model. Students’ responses indicate some changes in the nature of responses after the solution-focused training course, including the adop...

After years of Soviet occupation, the country of Estonia is in transition, as are their newly developed child protection services. This quantitative study examines Estonian child protection workers’ perspectives about child welfare work and assessment in the context of children in need. These findings indicate that workers seem to overly rely on a...

Child protective worker perspectives and principles are known to affect practitioner–-client interaction. However, there is little research on the principles underpinning workers’ assessment activities in transitioning post-Soviet societies where child protection is a relatively new field. This article presents the findings of a small-scale, qualit...

This article examines Estonian graduate social work students’ (MSW, n = 41) assessment approaches (deficit-based versus strengths-based) in the context of a child protection assessment through a case vignette format. The study found that students tend to focus more on a traditional deficit-based approach in their responses to a presented case, and...

This study reflects Estonian preschool teachers’ perceptions about and experience related to children in need in the context of neglect and abuse. Using quantitative and qualitative data, it was determined that, in general, teachers understand the meaning of “child in need” and abuse, and they have had experience with such children in their classes...

Objective This article describes empirical results on how practitioners understand the concept of child-centered approach and how it is applied in practice, extending knowledge of the unresearched phenomena in Estonian child protection practice.MethodA small-scale study included twenty child protection workers from different regions in Estonia, exp...

After the Soviet Union era and decades of forced interruption, the social work profession development started again in Estonia in 1991. Social work in re-independent Estonia has not had a long tradition, therefore there is a strong need to develop an effective child protection system that responds to adequate satisfaction of children’s needs. The a...