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Child Protection Safeguarding Statement

Child Safeguarding Statement

 

1          Nature of Services and principles to safeguard children from harm

Exchange House Ireland National Travellers Service (EHINTS) acknowledges its duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and is committed to ensuring our safeguarding practices reflects statutory responsibilities, Government guidance and complies with best practice.

EHINTS works from a social inclusion, equality and human rights perspective to provide Education, Youth, Mental Health, Family Support and Crisis Intervention Services to the Traveller community. EHINTS aims to create a safe environment for all children and persons working with children but in particular for the children and young people using EHINTS facilities and services where they feel secure, knowing that if they have concerns, they will be listened to with understanding and respect and their concerns will be addressed.

Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and young people to protect them from harm regardless of their race, ability, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. While protecting children from abuse is one part of safeguarding, children and young people also need safeguarding in order for them to grow, develop and achieve their full potential. Our service believes that the welfare of children attending our service is paramount. We are committed to a child-centred practice in all our work with children. We are committed to upholding the rights of every child and young person who attends our service, including the rights to be kept safe and protected from harm, listened to and heard.

Services provided by EHINTS are as follows

  • Education and Training
  • Family Support and Crisis Intervention
  • Children and Young People’s Service
  • Mental Health and Suicide Prevention

These services are provided in house at Exchange House Ireland National Travellers Service, 61 Great Strand Street, Dublin 1, D01 WC97 and on an outreach basis.

 

2          Risk Assessment

We have carried out an assessment of any potential for harm to a child while availing of our services. The definition of harm in relation to a child is: ‘assault, ill-treatment or neglect of the child in a manner that seriously affects or is likely to seriously affect the child’s health, development or welfare, or sexual abuse of the child’ as defined in The Children First Act 2015. See section 3 for this and other relevant policies. 

  Risk Identified Procedure in Place to Manage Risk Identified

1

 Risk of harm (as identified in the Children First Act, 2015) to a child from a member of staff.
  • Suitable and qualified staff.
  • Pre-employment checks including Garda vetting.
  • Code of Behaviour.
  • Child safeguarding policies and procedures.
  • On-line Children First training for all staff.
  • Local procedures for management of allegations against a staff member.
2 Risk of harm (as identified in the Children First Act, 2015) to a child from a service user, visitor or member of the public
  • Supervision and admission policies as relevant to service provision.
  • Team meetings, staff supervision and training.
  • Reporting procedure.
3 Risk of non-compliance with Children First legislation
  • Children First governance structure.
  • Child Safeguarding – Guiding Principles and Procedures document is in place and communicated to staff and reviewed once a year.
  • Designated Liaison Person and deputy Designated Liaison Person in place.
  • Team meetings, staff supervision and training.
  •  
4 Risk of harm (as identified in the Children First Act, 2015) or concern not being recognised or reported
  • Staff information, supervision and training.
  • An Introduction to Children First" mandatory eLearning training for all staff.
5 Risk of harm of bullying of a child by an older child / peer.
  • A clear procedure is in place for staff to manage challenging behaviour. This includes bullying and cyber bullying.
  • Incident Reporting Policy and Procedures in place.
  • Staff/volunteer training covers dealing with bullying and discriminatory behaviour.
  • Supervision ratio adhered to.
6 Risk of harm (as defined in the CFA 2015) of a child on outings by a member of staff/volunteer/stranger/peer.
  • Supervision/accompaniment/staff ratio policies.
  • All activities, events and programmes are planned to include a full risk assessment.
  • All planning is child-centred and is cognisant of the group and community that is taking part.
7 Risk of harm (as defined in the CFA 2015) of a child through the use of unauthorised photography.
  • Parental/guardian permission sought prior to any use of appropriate photography which is approved by management.
  • Staff ratio adhered to (i.e. no staff member/volunteer left alone with child/young person).
  • Disciplinary Policy and Procedures in place.
8 Risk of harm (as defined in the CFA 2015) of a child through social media/internet use.
  • Children do not have unsupervised access to internet while using service.
  • Incident Reporting Policy and Procedures in place.
9 Risk of harm (as defined in the CFA 2015) of a child through lack of supervision.
  • Supervision/accompaniment/staff ratio policies.
  • Supervision ratio adhered to.

 

3          Procedures

Our child Safeguarding Statement has been developed in line with requirements under the Children First Act 2015, the Children First: National Guidance, and Tusla’s Child Safeguarding: A Guide for Policy, Procedure and Practice. In addition to the procedures listed in our risk assessment, the following procedures support our intention to safeguard children while availing of our service;

  • Procedure for the management of allegations of abuse or misconduct against workers/volunteers of a child availing of our service
  • Procedure for the safe recruitment and selection of workers and volunteers to work with children.
  • Procedure for provision of and access to child safeguarding training and information, including the identification of the occurrence of harm.
  • Procedure for the reporting of child protection or welfare concerns to Tusla.
  • Procedure for maintaining a list of the persons (if any) in the relevant service who are mandated persons.
  • Procedure for appointing a relevant person. Designated Liaison Person is Caroline Boyle, Family Support and Crisis Intervention Service Manager.

This Child Safeguarding Statement is supplementary to EHINTS’s Child Protection Policy, which outlines in detail the organisational approach to child protection.

Please see link to our Contents Page of Procedures Listed in Child Safeguarding Statement and Other Relevant Procedures/Policies/SOPs. These are available upon request.

 

4          Implementation

At EHINTS we recognise that implementation of Child Protection policies is an ongoing process. EHINTS is committed to the implementation of this Child Safeguarding Statement and the procedures that support our intention to keep children safe from harm while accessing services. This Child Safeguarding Statement will be reviewed by 20th April 2026 or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which the statement refers.

This statement has been published on the service website and is displayed in the service. It has been provided to all staff, volunteers and any other persons involved with the service. It is readily accessible to parents and guardians on request.

 

Kerry Cuskelly                                    Caroline Boyle

CEO                                                     Family Support & Crisis Intervention Service Manager

 

20th April 2025

 

For queries, please contact Caroline Boyle – 087 794 1505

Relevant person under the Children First Act 2015

 

Download a copy of this Child Safeguarding Statement

 

Relevant Policies

Visit our Policies Page for copies of all relevant policies

  • Child Protection Policy
  • Code of Conduct for Working with Childrean and Young People
  • Complaints Policy
  • Confidentiality Policy
  • Data Protection Policy
  • Garda Vetting Policy
  • Indicents and Accidents Policy
  • Recruitment Policy
  • Risk Assessment 
  • Supervision Policy