Strengthening Prevention, Early Intervention and Family Support: A Conceptual Framework for Studying System Change in Irish Child Protection and Welfare

All states grapple with the challenges of protecting children and ensuring their development. For minority world states, whilst there is a longer history of established systems focused on the protection and welfare of children, transformation and change are ever-present characteristics of such systems—reflecting the ongoing pursuit of greater effectiveness in meeting the needs of service users. Recent trends suggest an increased focus on prevention and family support amongst child protection systems, with some national and regional states re-organising services in this direction. Alongside these central policy and practice reforms, academic literature has emerged to support those considering and planning for system change and improvement in child protection. In this article, we first propose a conceptual framework for studying system change in child protection, building on the work of Coffman and Wulczyn, but incorporating three further orientations: system culture and climate; implementation science; and leadership. Secondly, using Ireland’s experience of developing and strengthening the prevention and family support dimensions of its child protection system as a case study, we assess the value of the framework and possible revisions to it for future use.