When your child starts in a care setting, be it full day care, sessional or part time care or with a childminder, it can be a very stressful time for parents. Your first priority as a parent is the safety and welfare of your child and you’ll be delighted to know that this is also a main priority for providers of early learning and care for children.
Early Learning and Care settings have a number of legal obligations under the Children First Act (2015) and these are:
Under the Children First Act (2015), mandated persons have 2 legal obligations;
Mandated Persons have a legal responsibility to report if a child is being harmed, has been harmed or is at risk of being harmed, to the point where the child’s health, development or welfare have been or are being seriously affected, or are likely to be seriously affected.
In early years settings you are a Mandated Person if you are:
A Child Safeguarding Statement is a written statement that specifies the service being provided and the principles and procedures to be observed in order to keep children safe from harm. It should include:
When starting your child in an Early Learning and Care setting, parents should receive information from the service outlining their policies and procedures and information on how to address any concerns you may have. For further information, please see the attached document
Domestic Violence, also known as domestic abuse can happen in the form of emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse. Domestic abuse can happen against children, men and women and can happen in all kinds of relationships.
There are many resources available to those experiencing domestic abuse and some are listed:
There are many times when parents may require support. Being able to access supports in one place can make something that may initially seem daunting, a lot easier to figure put. Tusla provide wrap around support for parents including the provision of parenting programmes and intervention at an early stage to prevent situations getting worse. For more information see:
Tusla has developed the Meitheal approach to help children where they may need the support of more than one service. Meitheal is a case co-ordination process for families with additional needs who require multi-agency intervention but who do not meet the threshold for referral to the Social Work Department under Children First. Practitioners in different agencies can use and lead on Meitheal so that they can communicate and work together more effectively to bring together a range of expertise, knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the child and family within their community. Meitheal is an early intervention, multi-agency (when necessary) response tailored to the needs of an individual child or young person.
Parents should speak to the Manager in their child’s Early Learning and Care setting about their Child Safeguarding Statement and Child Safeguarding Policy and Procedures. Parents and stakeholders can request copies of these documents and answers to all questions and queries relating to Child Safeguarding and Child Protection and Welfare should be provided by Management of the setting.
