Child Safeguarding Statement

1. Name of Service : Longford Community Resources clg – LCRL

 

2. The services we provide are: LCRL is a Local Development Company. As the Local Development Company for County Longford, the core purpose of Longford Community Resources Clg is to promote rural development and tackle social exclusion. 

   The services we provide are as follows:

• Leader (Rural Development Programme),
• The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP)
• The TUS Programme
• The Rural Social Scheme
• County Longford Volunteer Centre
• County Longford Traveller Primary Healthcare Project
• County Longford Youth Service
• Social Prescribing Project
• Community Development Programme.

 

3. Principles to Safeguard Children from Harm:

Longford Community Resources clg is committed to the principles laid out in Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017.  These are:

• The safety and welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility.
• The best interests of the child should be paramount.
• The overall aim in all dealings with children and their families is to intervene proportionately to support families to keep children safe from harm.
• Interventions by the State should build on existing strengths and protective factors in the family.
• Early intervention is key to getting better outcomes. Where it is necessary for the State to intervene to keep children safe, the minimum intervention necessary should be used.
• Children should only be separated from parents/carers when alternative means of protecting them have been exhausted.
• Children have a right to be heard, listened to and taken seriously. Taking account of their age and understanding, they should be consulted and involved in all matters and decisions that may affect their lives.
• Parents/carers have a right to respect, and should be consulted and involved in matters that concern their family.
• A proper balance must be struck between protecting children and respecting the rights and needs of parents/carers and families.
• Child protection is a multiagency, multidisciplinary activity. Agencies and professionals must work together in the interests of the children.

4. Risk assessment of potential harm to children whilst availing of our services:

 

	Risk Identified	Procedures in place to manage identified risks
1	A member of the organisation fails to report an issue or concern of harm in relation to a child or young person engaging in LCRL services or fails to report a retrospective disclosure from a young person	Mandated reporters identified and briefed of their responsibilities The DLP is made known to all staff and procedures for reporting are in place. Reporting and safeguarding responsibilities are outlined to all staff Safeguarding and Tusla reports are a standing item on the Board meeting. Staff disciplinary and codes of behaviours are in place. Reporting and safeguarding issues are reiterated at staff meetings
2	A staff member or volunteer could harm a child or young person by not maintaining boundaries, behaving inappropriately or developing an inappropriate relationship with them during or outside of activities	All staff and Volunteers are subject to our recruitment process and under Garda Vetting Child Safeguarding Training – Tusla eLearning module Child Protection & Awareness Training Code of Behaviour for Staff & Volunteers Incident Reporting Policy & Procedures in place Procedure in place for handling allegations of abuse against staff or volunteers Disciplinary Policy & Procedures in place Reporting Policy & Procedure in place
3	A child may be harmed if a staff member or volunteer failed to report any inappropriate behaviour that may or may not be named in the organisations Code of Behaviour, by a colleague towards a child or young person	Child Safeguarding Training – Tusla eLearning module Child Protection & Awareness Training Code of Behaviour for Staff & Volunteers Incident Reporting Policy & Procedures in place Procedure in place for handling allegations of abuse against staff or volunteers Disciplinary Policy & Procedures in place Reporting Policy & Procedure in place
4	A child or young person may be harmed by being bullied or abused by another child or young person during activities, after activities, on the premises or via social media A child  or young person could be harmed if misconduct by another child towards them was unchallenged and left to continue	Clear process in place of contracting/setting ground rules with all groups Code of behaviour in place for children & young people Group contracts in place Safeguarding policy in place and visible at activity level Anti-bullying Policy & Procedures in place Ratios and supervision standards are in line with best practice Incident Reporting Policy & Procedures is in place A complaints Policy & Procedures is in place Record keeping is in place All staff are aware of the signs and symptoms of bullying Bullying awareness programmes are delivered where bullying is a risk
5	A child or young person could be harmed if the organisation failed to provide a physically safe environment leading to accidents or incidents	Health & Safety Policy & Procedures in place Risk assessments conducted at centre level and for all activities Insurance cover is adequate and limitations clearly communicated Incident reporting Policy & Procedures in Place Ratios and supervision standards are in line with best practice Staff are trained First Aiders
6	A child or young person may be harmed if the organisation fails to manage multi-purpose situations appropriately i.e. where adult members of the public may be on the premises or be encountered during external activities/events	Health & Safety Policy & Procedures in place Sign in/out system operating in all premises Risk assessments conducted for all new & external venues Adequate levels of supervision maintained at all times
7	A child or young person may be harmed if they left the group unattended or if they were collected by an inappropriate person (flight and kidnapping concerns)	Consent forms are signed by guardians outlining who is deemed as an approved person to collect a young person or if they are allowed to walk home from the group. Adequate levels of supervision maintained at all times All necessary staff are advised of areas of concern in relation to a child or young person who may be at risk of being collected by an unapproved person.

 

5. Procedures:

 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 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 services.

• Procedure for the management of allegations of abuse or misconduct against workers/volunteers by a child while 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 mandated persons.
• Procedure for appointing a relevant person.

All procedures listed are available on request.

 

6. Implementation:

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 services. This Child Safeguarding Statement will be reviewed on March 11 2022 or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which the statement refers.

Signed:

              Adrian Greene

              C.E.O, Longford Community Resources clg.

              Pat O Rourke

             Chairperson, Longford Community Resources clg.

Date: 11th March 2022

For further details contact:

Sarajane McNaboe, LCRL, Templemichael, Longford N39 RH22, smcnaboe@lcrl.ie  / 043 33 45555
Relevant Person under the Children First Act 2015