Child protection and welfare

Following on from the publication of the Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children in 1999 and in the context of growing awareness of child abuse in Ireland the Arts Council decided to take a lead role in addressing the issue of child protection and welfare in the arts sector through the promotion of good practice.

In 2003, the Arts Council made contact with the Health Service Executive (HSE). A working group, drawn from the arts sector, HSE Information and Advice Persons, and Arts Council staff, was convened to devise guidelines based on Children First.

In 2004, the HSE delivered 'Keeping Safe' training to arts organisations in four locations around the country.  This process provided the basic framework for the development of the Arts Council's Child Protection Guidelines.

The guidelines, published in 2006, are a template to be used and adapted by arts organisations in developing their own guidelines.

They are ‘best practice’ guidelines covering:

• Organisation’s policy statement on child protection and welfare
• Code of behaviour
• Reporting procedures
• Confidentiality statement
• Recruiting and selecting staff
• Managing and supervising staff
• Involvement of primary carers
• Dealing with allegations against staff
• Complaints and comments procedures
• Accidents procedures

In 2007 it became a requirement for Arts Council funded organisations to develop and implement child protection policies and procedures.

The use of images plays an important role in many aspects of work with children and young people. Images in many formats can be used to record, document, demonstrate, promote and celebrate activities and experiences.  Increasingly accessible and diverse technology has meant that recording, sharing, disseminating and publicising images is more widespread than ever before, and this practice will undoubtedly continue and expand.

Concerns about misuse of images have also grown and for this reason guidelines on good practice have been formulated to help organisations, artists and practitioners to use images in ways that respect privacy and do not expose children or young people to unnecessary risk.

Two new resources are available on our website for arts organisations working with children and young people.

Both resources have been designed as templates that can be adapted by arts organisations for their own use. 

Child Protection Policy and Procedures - Information for Children is designed as a leaflet that can be given to children and young people. It is intended to provide them with a brief guide to the measures that are in place in their arts organisation to ensure their safety and welfare. Information covered includes code of behaviour, making a complaint and how they can expect to be treated.

Child Protection Policy and Procedures - Information for Parents/Guardians provides an outline for parents/guardians on the policies and procedures that are in place in an arts organisation attended by their child. It includes guidance on recruitment procedures, how the organisation will communicate with the parents in the event of a concern regarding their child and lists points on how parents can cooperate with them to ensure the safety and welfare of their child.

These resources were drawn up in consultation with arts organisations who work with children and young people. Their assistance and expertise is appreciated. 

The issue of access to Garda Vetting is increasingly of concern to many artists and arts organisations and the Arts Council has been working in co-operation with the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) to identify arts resource organisations who are willing to register with the GCVU to process applications.

Garda vetting is a process of checking the Garda criminal records system to verify whether or not an individual has a record of criminal convictions, arrests, prosecutions or cases pending.  This information is supplied with the individual’s consent, on a confidential basis for the sole purpose of informing decision making in recruitment.  It is important to note that Garda Vetting is but one aspect of the overall recruitment process and should be implemented in the context of safe recruitment practice .

Organisations wishing to register for Garda Vetting must have in place adequate Child Protection Policies and Procedures, which have been approved by the HSE.  Persons nominated to act as authorised signatories must themselves be vetted and have undertaken Keeping Safe training provided by the HSE and training is provided by the GCVU in advance of registration. 

Currently Create, the National Association for Youth Drama (NAYD), and Poetry Ireland are registered organisations.

For GCVU contact details please refer to the resource section at the bottom of this page.

This code of practice was developed in response to requests from the arts sector. It aims to provide support and guidance to artists working with children and young people in a solo capacity as practitioners, facilitators or tutors. It is based on, and should be read in conjunction with established good practice guidelines such as detailed above.

This resource was developed in consultation with individual artists, arts organisations and the Health Service Executive Information and Advice Persons. 

Contact your local HSE Information and Advice Person for information and updates on Keeping Safe Training. This 2-day training is designed for all staff working with children and young people and deals with subjects such as recognising and identifying child abuse concerns, responding to concerns, safe recruitment and management of staff/volunteers, and creating a safe environment for children and young people.

The Arts Council also provides training and workshops in the area of child protection. Please visit our news section for upcoming events.

• Children first: national guidelines for the protection and welfare of children and young people.
• Our duty to care: the principles of good practice for the protection of children and young people.
• Guidelines for the protection and welfare of children and young people in the arts sector.
• Guidelines for taking and using images of children and young people in the arts sector.
• Solo practitioner code of practice for working with children and young people.
• HSE Duty Social Work Contact List 
• http://www.dataprotection.ie

• Garda Central Vetting Unit
  Racecourse Road
  Thurles
  County Tipperary
  Ireland
  Tel: +353 (0)504 27300
  Fax: +353 (0)504 27373