Following an international trend, current Swedish child welfare policy making centres around the development of early and coordinated support. The Scottish praxis-model “Getting It Right For Every Child” is held as a role model and inspires today development efforts at several places in Sweden. Previous research, however, indicates a paradox for social work in that despite the model’s intentions of providing early support based on a holistic and ecological understanding, it may weaken the role of social work – placing professionals at (even) longer distance from children and youth and given a narrow administrative function. With an understanding of professionalism as a situated practice balancing between theory and (local) ideals, this presentation analyses whether this paradox is acknowledged and translated in a regional development work in Sweden. Data is obtained from a three-year study, including regional level (health services) and eight municipalities (pre-schools, schools, social services) and consists of observations of (43) steering board meetings, documents and (42) interviews with stakeholders at managerial and operative level. The analysis reveals that due to the pre-existing uncertain position of social work in the appointed prevention and coordinating arenas (the health sector and the schools), the role of social work may not only become weak, but rather even weaker and at an increased distant position, something also indicated in initial piloting during the implementation. The findings call for more attention of the roles social work could/should take and being pro-active when new frameworks of prevention are introduced and translated locally.