IDEA's Safeguarding Policies



IDEA is committed to creating a safe and healthy environment for any children/young people with whom we might work and to ensuring their safety and welfare at all times. We are committed to the principle that the welfare of the child is paramount, and must always come first, and that child safeguarding and child protection is everyone’s responsibility. We are also committed to promoting the rights of the child to be protected, treated with respect, be listened to and have their views taken into consideration, including the participation of children/young people, in matters that affect them.


Although we are not a youth work organisation, we do engage at times with the public and youth organisations and understand that our child safeguarding responsibilities can involve the following type of indirect engagement:

  • Young people nominated and supported by an external organisation to represent IDEA at a meeting, event, launch, consultation, forums, serve on a working group etc.

 

And the possibility of:

  • Attendance of young person in the audience at an IDEA public event
  • Communication with a young person online - via IDEA social media platforms
  • Supporting youth organisations in the delivery of our Erasmus+ programme, and other future projects.


Our safeguarding policies aim to value and protect children. They help provide safeguards and support for staff when they are working with children and young people, promote good practice when engaging with children/young people and support IDEA to be a healthy and safe organisation for everyone we engage with. This includes working in line with Children First and our relevant organisational policies and procedures relating to safeguarding.


Our Child Safeguarding Statement has been developed in line with requirements under the Children First Act 2015, Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2017), and Túsla’s Child Safeguarding: A Guide for Policy, Procedure and Practice.


The following procedures support our intention to safeguard children while they are availing of our services:

  • Appointment of a ‘Designated Liaison Person (DLP)’ to deal with any complaints or issues arising which concern the safety or welfare of any child/young person who attends any events or meetings organised by IDEA or attends with IDEA personnel: Ruairí McKiernan, CEO
  • Procedure for maintaining a list of ‘mandated persons’ in our service (if any) and appointing a ‘relevant person’ in accordance with Children First Act 2015
  • Procedure for working with third parties (e.g. consultants) and ensuring they understand our safeguarding procedures
  • Procedure for the management of allegations of abuse or misconduct against workers/volunteers of a child availing of our service;
  • Safe recruitment and selection of workers and volunteers to work with children (including Vetting);
  • Provision of and access to child safeguarding training and information;
  • Keeping Parents/Guardians informed including through the use of consent forms
  • Procedure for the reporting a child protection or welfare concern to Túsla; as well as,
  • Records of registration and attendance; Incident/accident report form; Health and Safety policy; an anti-bullying policy; a complaints procedure.


The above are available upon request from our Child Protection Officer, Elaine Mahon.


The following policies are part of our safeguarding approach and can be consulted here: