NYCI Child Safeguarding Statement
1. NAME OF SERVICE BEING PROVIDED
National Youth Council of Ireland
2. NATURE OF SERVICE AND PRINCIPLES TO SAFEGUARD CHILDREN FROM HARM
(brief outline of what our service is, what we do and our commitment to safeguard children)
The National Youth Council of Ireland is the representative body for voluntary youth organisations in Ireland. It uses its collective experience to act on issues that impact on young people.
NYCI is not a youth work organisation that provides direct services to children and young people. We do engage with young people in a variety of different ways, the range of activities which children and young people might be involved with NYCI includes the following:
Involvement in:
- Ongoing working groups;
- Youth advisory groups, children/young people’s forums;
- Once-off consultations;
- Representational role at meetings or committees;
- Representation of young people at national or international events; residential and trips abroad;
- Structured Dialogue – Young Voices and other related meetings
- Interview panels;
- Involvement at launches and events;
- Communications via the internet and social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
The National Youth Council of Ireland is committed to the protection of children and young people with whom we work and advocate for, and to promoting good practice within our organisation.
NYCI is committed to promoting the rights of the child including the participation of children and young people in matters that affect them.
NYCI is committed to adherence to Children First National Guidance 2017 and the Children First Act 2015.
The best interests and the welfare of the child is the paramount consideration (paramountcy principle) underpinning all NYCI interactions and decisions.
3. RISK ASSESSMENT
NYCI has carried out an assessment of any potential of risk of harm to a child while availing of our services. The areas of risk and the procedures identified to address these areas have been identified.
- Engagement with young people
- Reporting procedures
- Recruitment and Selection
- Information, Communication and Training
- Allegations in relation to harm
4. PROCEDURES
NYCI’s Child Safeguarding Statement has been developed in line with requirements under the Children First Act 2015, the Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children, 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 they are availing of our service (see NYCI’s Child Protection Policy for details on the following procedures):
- 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 in NYCI who are mandated persons under the Children First Act 2015.
- Procedure for appointing a relevant person.
All procedures listed are available upon request.
5. IMPLEMENTATION
We recognise that implementation is an ongoing process. Our service is committed to the implementation of this Child Safeguarding Statement and the procedures that support our intention to keep children safe from harm while availing of our service. This Child Safeguarding Statement will be reviewed in September 2023 or sooner where there has been a material change in any matter to which the statement refers.
