Lessons from child protection errors and mistakes in 11 countries in Europe and North America are drawn together in a stimulating study from leading researchers in the field. By comparing and contrasting impacts, responses and responsibilities, it deepens understanding of how child protection systems fail and points to ideas for risk reduction.

This cross-national study provides a comparative analysis of different understandings of errors and mistakes and approaches to dealing with them in child protection practice, using research and knowledge from eleven countries in Europe and North America. Divided into country-specific chapters, each examines the pathways that lead to mistakes happening, the scale of their impact, how responsibilities and responses are decided, how practice and policy subsequently change and the lessons that we can learn.