The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) emphasizes the centrality of the family, culture and community in the nurturing and socialization of all children, and the responsibility of governments to develop laws, policies and programs that support families and children to achieve their human potentials, and to be protected from discrimination, violence, exploitation and other harms. Children requiring protective interventions should be placed in homes within their cultural or community milieu. However, in many countries protective interventions are not required by policy to enact a child rights approach, nor to ensure that children's best interests of are required in case decision-making, and corporal punishment is not outlawed.
In this article we pose the question: How impactful has the CRC been upon the policy and practice in child protection/welfare systems in Australia, Canada and the USA? We apply a critical comparative lens to examine how the CRC has been implemented and operationalized in these nations, focusing upon two important Articles: the best interests principle and corporal punishment. We assess the current state of CYP's rights and describe and analyze the extent to which these countries have formally or informally embedded and operationalized the CRC into their child protection legislations, policies and practices. We compare and contrast these nation's protective system achievements using publicly available sources of analysis and commentary. We examine the ways in which the CRC plays a transformative role in child welfare systems and its potential to be a greater force for much needed system change.
