From Bias to Better Practice in Child Protection
CFAB's Inter-Country Social Worker, Ellie Rathmell, shares insights from CFAB's recent expert panel discussion which confronted how cultural and racial bias shapes children’s lives within our systems and how to embed anti-discriminatory practice in mulit-agency work.
8 minute read
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"What happens when culture, race and identity are treated as central to child protection rather than background context? From cultural humility and international awareness to actively centring children’s voices, the discussion reinforced that better outcomes begin when we slow down, question our assumptions and truly listen to the children we serve." - Ellie Rathmell, Inter-Country Social Worker at CFAB
5 Key Panel Discussion Insights:
1. Child Protection in a Diverse and Global Context
The panel reflected on the findings from the 2025 “It’s Silent”: Race, Racism and Safeguarding Children” national report (‘the Report’). The report revealed repeated failures to consider race, culture, language and the broader identity of children, which are essential for understanding risk, experiences and family networks.
The panel noted that the absence of the child’s voice across all 54 reviewed cases was particularly troubling. Children are not being invited to the decision-making table, and due to barriers such as lack of cultural awareness and adultification by professionals, they are not given opportunities to communicate their experiences resulting in their needs not being met. The Report highlighted instances where bias was acknowledged but racism was not directly named. Limited consideration was given to intersectionality, particularly for children in kinship care arrangements or from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.
The panel expressed the need for practitioners to take time to create space for children, allowing them to express themselves in ways that feels safe and accessible to them as individuals. While the panel noted that examples of good practice do exist, the discussion emphasised the need for continued honesty and bravery in confronting these challenges. The panel stressed that reflecting on bias is not an accusation but an essential starting point for preventing its influence on professional judgment.
2. Lived Experience Reveals How Bias Operates
The Panel discussed how bias and cultural misunderstanding can shape the lives of children who arrive in the UK through international kinship arrangements. Legal orders and cross-border care arrangements can place international families at risk of slipping through gaps in support.
Barriers to adequate support included subtle racism expressed through stereotypes, assumptions and cultural misunderstandings. The risk of practitioners or carers misinterpreting behaviour due to cultural or language differences. Adults’ perceptions or assumptions of a child’s intelligence, capability and preference. These barriers often lead to decisions made for children rather than with them.
Practitioners must aim to understand the difficulty and emotional complexity children and carers face when adapting to new systems, languages and cultures while supporting them to retain strong transnational family ties. The discussion highlighted the need for professionals to slow down, ask better questions and reflect carefully on how language and cultural assumptions affect children.
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3. Cultural Nuance and Cross-Border Challenges in Professional Practice
Some practitioners working with migrant children described a cross-border context shaped by diverse cultural expectations, differing experiences of authority, and widespread mistrust rooted in previous interactions with state agencies abroad. When dealing with international cases, the Panel identified the need for practitioners to have greater openness to different international safeguarding systems, recognising that different processes can reach safe outcomes.
Refugee children arriving in the UK often face difficulty accessing education, banking, health care and accommodation, and experiences of racism. These children may carry trauma related to their country of origin, their journey and their experiences after arrival. Stronger cross-agency collaboration is needed to ensure they receive appropriate support.
In practice, everyday cultural misunderstandings, such as visiting families at times of prayer or refusing refreshments, can undermine relationships and communication between professionals and family. Reflective supervision for all practitioners should create space to discuss cultural competence and bias without fear or judgement. The Panel noted that the boundaries between racial bias, discrimination and racism can be blurred and that increasing understanding often leads to positive change.
4. Judicial Perspectives on Culture and Evidence
The Children Act 1989 and the Adoption and Children Act 2002 require the family courts to consider of a child’s background, identity, and relevant characteristics. Judges can request additional information when evidence is incomplete, including through international safeguarding bodies like CFAB.
Examples were shared where cultural sensitivity influenced judicial outcomes, demonstrating that awareness does exist within the family justice system, while also acknowledging that more training and guidance for legal professionals would be beneficial.
Challenges highlighted in cross-border placements included inconsistent assessments and differing legal frameworks, lack of emotional support and supervision post-placement and difficulty assessing whether overseas family can keep the child safe from ongoing parental harm.
Clearer international guidance and broader participation in international conventions, such as Hague Convention 1996, were suggested as ways to strengthen decision-making.
5. Cross-Border Kinship Care and Child Protection Responsibilities Beyond Borders
The speakers emphasised that a local authority’s safeguarding responsibilities do not end once a child moves abroad. Key considerations that practitioners should make include:
- Plan for reunification where appropriate from the outset, while balancing stability and changes in parents’ circumstances.
- Reflect on how bias may influence judgments about overseas placements.
- Ensure UK assessments effectively “travel with the child”.
- Recognise the emotional and cultural upheaval children may experience.
- Ensure transition planning is consistent and robust.
- Provide ongoing post-placement support without unnecessary surveillance.
Decisions about permanency or reunification must always be made on a case-by-case basis, but temporary placement orders or adaptable contact arrangements must be considered, ensuring children's relationships with parents and family remain central.
The session concluded with an important reminder;
Issues relating to lack of cultural awareness, bias and racism in safeguarding are longstanding and require sustained self-challenge, honest discussion and systemic change. Culture and identity must be integral, not optional, components of child protection practice.
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Next training:
CFAB is running our Culturally Inclusive Practice training on April 1st, delivered by our Inter‑Country Social Worker, Michael.
Equip yourself with the tools needed to explore culture confidently, challenge bias safely, and support internationally connected children with care and expertise.
Explore our resource library where you can find our culutral llife family library.
About CFAB:
CFAB’s vision is of a world where the complexity of migration and international separation does not deny children in need the right to care, protection and a safe family environment.
CFAB’s mission is to use our expertise to ensure children who have become separated from their families across international borders, are given care and protection, no matter where they come from.
