Child Protection Supervisory in Times of Crisis—Team Leaders' Experience in Child Protection Units During the First Year of the COVID‐19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT Child protection supervisors face a difficult task in ensuring high reliability in handling cases of suspected child maltreatment and thus safeguarding children at any time. During the COVID‐19 pandemic, social life and workflow organisation underwent significant changes within a short period. This article presents findings from the project KiZCo (Child Protection During Times of Corona) regarding child protection management in Germany. We investigated the challenges faced by team leaders of child protection units at local child and youth welfare authorities and their solutions to the arising problems in child protection. Qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with team leaders from 40 local child and youth welfare authorities. They were interviewed twice in 2020. Transcripts were analysed using content analysis. In March 2020, following the first lockdown in Germany, team leaders reported challenges in managing staff in a state of uncertainty about appropriate protection measures and fear of infection. Challenges arose mainly due to the actions or inaction of higher‐level management in most local child and youth welfare authorities. By October 2020, team leaders had developed more tools to address the crisis. However, dealing with insufficient support from higher management remained an issue. Team leaders identified high cohesion and motivation of the team as determinants of successful adaptation, which also included finding workarounds and creative solutions for challenges such as impractical guidelines for infection control and a lack of resources. Results indicate the need for crisis preparedness within the child protection system. Moreover, team leaders and staff were burdened by the failure of policy‐makers to include child protection in the crisis strategy. However, high motivation and creativity fostered adaptation and support practices that might have helped to prevent adverse outcomes for children.