The Portuguese Child Protection Model in a Comparative Analysis with Other EU Countries

This article analyzes the Portuguese child protection system from a comparative perspective with the protection systems of other European Union countries (Finland, France, Netherlands and Ireland), based on dimensions such as the global orientation, system organization and workforce. The article systematizes the main trends in the theoretical and practical evolution of child protection systems, namely the focus on prevention, early intervention and family support. The conclusion is that the four countries evolved towards integrating child protection in welfare policies, specializing statutory protection structures and opting for a highly specialized workforce, while Portugal persists in a forensic vision that subordinates prevention to protection and in a semi-professional organization model, where there is no control over the characteristics of the workforce.