Centre for Advanced Research on Integrity, Rights and Inclusion of the Child (CIRIC) was established in 2020

The centre is developed from Children and Family Research Group at Tallinn University, initiated in 2016 (see here) and from a start-up grant from Estonian Research Council to conduct a research project on effective participatory discourse in the context of child protection assessment practices (2019-2023). The Research Group brought together research and development initiatives focused on children and families in the child welfare system. Currently there are two ongoing projects, “Effective participatory discourse: Experiences of participants’ engagement in the context of child protection assessment practices” (EPECA, 2019-2023) and “Competent Child Protection Worker: Enhancing Child’s Right for the Participation in Child Protection Assessment” (COMPENCA, 2020-2023).

CIRIC is originally a collaborative effort between Tallinn University and Oslo Metropolitan University

It brings together research and development initiatives focused on children and families in the child welfare system, initiating collaboration between scholars from different disciplines with policy planners and practitioners in the field, both nationally and internationally. CIRIC is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of welfare and protection for all children, see the Child Protection Policy.

The goal is to improve the quality of services that children and families receive through a research-focus on the rights of the child and professional practice.