Children First Act 2015
What a safeguarding statement must contain.
Four things, and most organisations have a version of the second without the first — which is the part that makes the rest of it mean something.
The requirement
A statement, and the assessment it rests on.
A child safeguarding statement is a written statement specifying the service being provided and the principles and procedures observed to ensure, as far as practicable, that a child availing of the service is safe from harm.
It must include a written assessment of risk of harm to children availing of your services, and it must specify the procedures in place to manage each risk it identifies. Those procedures then have to exist.
The service
What you actually do, described accurately rather than aspirationally.
The principles and procedures
What you observe to keep children safe from harm while doing it.
The written risk assessment
Every element of the service where there is a risk of harm to a child. The part most often missing.
The procedures against each risk
Named in the statement, and existing in fact.
Display and availability
It is a public document.
The Children First Act 2015 requires the statement to be displayed in a prominent place wherever those services are operated, and made available to parents and guardians, to Tusla, and to any member of the public who asks for it.
That is worth remembering while writing it. A statement that would embarrass you if a parent read it closely is telling you something.
Answers
Questions we're asked most.
What must a child safeguarding statement contain?
The service being provided, the principles and procedures observed to keep children safe from harm, a written assessment of risk of harm, and the procedures in place to manage each risk identified in that assessment.
Where must a child safeguarding statement be displayed?
In a prominent place wherever the services are operated. It must also be made available to parents and guardians, to Tusla, and to any member of the public who requests it.
Which organisations must have a child safeguarding statement?
Providers of relevant services to children under the Children First Act 2015. That is wider than most organisations expect and includes crèches, schools, sports clubs, youth groups, dance and drama schools, and businesses running children's activities.
Can we adapt another organisation's statement?
It is the commonest approach and the weakest. A statement adapted from elsewhere names risks you do not have and misses the ones you do, because it did not come from your own risk assessment.
Do large organisations need more than one?
Sometimes. A large or complex organisation should consider whether one overarching statement serves it, or whether separate statements are needed for different branches or service locations. It is a decision worth taking deliberately.
How often should a child safeguarding statement be reviewed?
The Children First Act 2015 requires review at least every twenty-four months — 24 months — or sooner if there has been a material change in the service or an incident that suggests the statement is not working.
Who you would be working with
Fifteen years leading Ireland's national child protection unit.
Senior Investigating Officer with An Garda Síochána, leading three national units: the National Child Protection Unit, the Sexual Crime Management Unit and the Online Child Exploitation Unit. Ireland's National Expert to Interpol and Europol on child safeguarding.
Safeguarding policy developed with Tusla, the HSE and three government departments. M.Sc. in Child Protection and Welfare, Trinity College Dublin. More about Michael
do what you love, safely
Organisations Michael has worked with
Tusla
HSE
United Nations
Interpol
European Commission
GAA
Scouting Ireland
Teaching Council
Dublin Rape Crisis Centre
CARI
Irish Red Cross
DSPCA
St John Ambulance
UCD
Trinity College Dublin
ERA — Academy of European LawThe first conversation
Thirty minutes. No cost.
Send Michael what you already have and he will tell you whether it holds up, including if it does.
- Whether your statement came from your own risk assessment
- Whether the procedures it names actually exist
- What it would cost to put right, and what it would not