Children First Act 2015
The designated liaison person.
Your safeguarding statement has to name one person as the first point of contact. This is what that role actually involves.
The role
Where concerns arrive.
Somebody notices something and does not know what to make of it. Under a working safeguarding statement they pass it to one named person, and that person decides what happens next.
Receive
Take the concern from whoever raised it, in their words, without correcting or interpreting them.
Decide
Whether it reaches the threshold for a report to Tusla, whether An Garda Síochána are involved, or whether it is managed internally.
Report and liaise
Make the report, and be the organisation's point of contact for the statutory agencies afterwards.
Record
What was noticed, when, by whom, what was decided and why. Written at the time rather than reconstructed later.
The part people get wrong
Appointing somebody is not preparing them.
Most organisations name a designated liaison person in their statement and stop there. The name satisfies the requirement on paper. It does not help the person at nine o'clock on a Tuesday when something ambiguous has just been said to them and they are on their own.
The decisions the role brings are not the ones general training covers — thresholds, mandated reporting, what to write down and in whose words, and what to do when the concern is about a colleague.
Answers
Questions we're asked most.
Is a designated liaison person legally required?
The Children First Act 2015 requires a provider of relevant services to appoint a relevant person as the first point of contact in respect of the organisation's child safeguarding statement. That person must be named in the statement.
Who should be the designated liaison person?
Somebody senior enough to act on a concern without asking permission first, and available enough to be found on the day one arrives. It is often a manager or a board member. It should not be the person with the least to do.
Should we appoint a deputy designated liaison person?
Yes. A role that is uncovered whenever one person takes leave is not really covered. Appoint a deputy and train them at the same time.
What if the concern is about the designated liaison person?
Then it does not go to them. Your procedures should already name where it goes instead — usually a board member or a named alternative. If they do not say, that is a gap worth closing before you need it.
Is the designated liaison person the same as a mandated person?
No. Mandated persons are named professionals under Schedule 2 of the Children First Act 2015 with a personal legal obligation to report. A designated liaison person is an organisational appointment. One person can be both, and then holds both duties separately.
Does a designated liaison person need specific training?
The Children First Act 2015 requires appropriate training. General training teaches somebody to recognise a concern and pass it on; the designated liaison person is who they pass it to, and then has to decide what happens next. That is a different skill and it is rarely covered.
Related: designated liaison person training, the Children First Act 2015 explained, and what your statement must contain, and reporting a child protection concern.
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.
Tell Michael who holds the role in your organisation and what your reporting routes are.
- Whether your designated liaison person and deputy are both prepared
- What your procedures say when the concern is about one of your own people
- What the training would cost, and what it would not