I would like to welcome Mr Gordon Jeyes, National Director, Children and Family Services, HSE and Mr Derek Byrne, Assistant Commissioner, National Support Services and acknowledge their support in the development of this guidance.
I look forward to their continued support and cooperation in the future. I would also like to introduce Mr. Jim Breslin, who was recently appointed to the post of Secretary General of my Department.
For all of us this has been a week that we would love to forget, but must always remember.
It was a week where problems of the past were proven to survive in the present.
It was a week where we learned that shame alone does not change behaviour.
The Cloyne report showed us that child abuse and endangerment is not something that happened back in the 50’s or 60’s or 70’s or 80’s.
Cloyne showed us that child abuse and endangerment is happening today.
As recently as 2008 the diocese of Cloyne was behaving – in relation to child protection - in a way that is utterly unacceptable and repugnant.
There is a danger that in analysing the detail of how the diocese failed we miss the horrifying impact of such failures. There is a risk that in the searching through the report to understand what happened we miss the result of what happened.
The result of what happened, is contained in chapter 27.
It is the last chapter.
It has a simple and almost bureaucratic title; "The Complainants."
It contains the evidence of what happens to little children when child protection guidelines are treated as study documents.
It quotes the adults those little children become. Adults carrying within them the anger, revulsion, fear, loneliness and shame that abuse creates.
‘The Complainants’ is a chapter largely made up of their words.
Words like; "my mother reared five children, how did she get one so different. I am like a shadow".
Words like; "Separate instances. They all mulch into one, one long brain turning, nauseating role of events.
Words like: "what was so awful about all of this all of my life is I felt that I was the one who did something dreadful, that I was the one so isolated in shame until I knew better, you know, and that is exactly what he wanted".
Words like: "My daughter got very sick […] and I was so devastated by that. I thought this was my punishment for everything I did. I remember thinking: Oh, my God, this is what God is doing to me like for what I have done."
Chapter 27 matters because our ultimate objective now must be to ensure that no child ever again suffers as they did and no adult is left with the scars they carry.
That is why we are publishing Children First 2011. It provides a robust national guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children. Earlier this week I sought; and received government approval to bring forward legislation to require, for the first time, statutory compliance with Children First.
You may ask – what was wrong with Children First as published in 1999? Well, there is nothing wrong with the 1999 version – it has stood the test of time and the principle and substance of the revised guidance being launched today remain the same.
However, we have learned a lot over the last 12 years and the guidance has been updated to reflect new policy legislation and organisation - the establishment of the HSE, HIQA, and the new Department of Children and Youth Affairs. It incorporates lessons from investigations, reviews and inspections over the past decade. This document reflects the growing awareness of the impact of ongoing neglect on children in its guidance and it also includes bullying as a feature of abuse. The Guidance has also been edited to ensure there is no confusion of agencies, roles or steps to be taken in the identification and management of concerns.
While the Children First document can be read by anyone, it is primarily for HSE social workers, Gardaí and designated Children First Staff working directly with children in different settings across schools, the health sector, clubs and other leisure areas. It provides direction and guidance to the HSE and the Gardaí in fulfilling their statutory responsibilities in the assessment and management of cases of alleged abuse or neglect.
Children First will be supported by the Child Protection and Welfare Practice Handbook, which will be published shortly by the HSE. I wish to thank Gordon Jeyes for his work on this handbook. These two publications will provide clear direction and support to front line staff and organisations working with children and set out clearly the roles of the statutory agencies responsible for child protection.
The Children First guidance being published today states clearly what organisations need to do to keep children safe, and what different bodies, and the general public should do if they are concerned about a child’s safety and welfare. The Guidance sets out specific protocols for HSE social workers, Gardaí and other front line staff in identifying suspected abuse and neglect and the ongoing management of these cases.
Most people think of abuse as sexual abuse and of course we know how horrendous this is, however the abuse that the majority of children suffer is pervasive, ongoing neglect or neglect in conjunction with physical and sexual abuse. The neglect is evident, and it is vital that professionals and staff working with the child and family, for instance the public health nurse, GP, teacher, crèche staff, co-operate with the HSE social workers on an ongoing basis by way of attending meetings, writing reports and monitoring the child’s welfare. This co-opertative way of working across agency and discipline is already happening up and down the country, however, I am sad to say, it is not universal and for this reasons I am introducing this legislation.
I want the message to go out that it is absolutely critical that if somebody has, on good faith, reasonable concerns over the abuse or neglect of a child then those concerns must be reported to the relevant authorities and to this end statutory reporting requirements will be addressed as one aspect of the proposed new Children First legislation
But it is important to note that the scope of Children First extends beyond the narrow focus of reporting on its own.
Protecting children involves more than making a once off report.
Instead, through requiring statutory compliance with Children First I am proposing a much broader-based and comprehensive approach emphasising the importance of multi-disciplinary, inter-agency working and sharing-of-information as well as laying-down the broader responsibilities of organisations that are in contact with or providing services to children:
promoting the general welfare, health, development and safety of children;
adopting and consistently applying a safe and clearly defined method of recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers;
developing guidance and procedures, in accordance with Children First, for staff and volunteers who may have reasonable grounds for concern about the safety and welfare of children involved with the organisation;
identifying a designated liaison person to act as a liaison with outside agencies and a resource person to any staff member or volunteer who has child protection and welfare concerns. The designated liaison person is responsible for reporting allegations or concerns of child abuse to the HSE Children and Family Services or to An Garda Síochána;
ensuring that the organisation has clear written procedures on the action to be taken if allegations of abuse against employees or volunteers are made;
raising awareness within the organisation about potential risks to children’s safety and welfare;
developing effective procedures for responding to accidents and complaints.
Organisations should refer to the HSE where they are concerned about a child’s welfare and co-operate with the statutory bodies in the ongoing assessment and management of the case.
However, this week we learned of the shocking inadequate and inappropriate response by the Diocese of Cloyne, to complaints and allegations of child sexual abuse in the period from between 1996 and 2008.
The diocese did not comply with the Church’s own guidelines.
They did not comply with Children First.
It is therefore vital that guidance translates into implementation "on the ground".
Compliance must be ensured. No exceptions, no exemptions.
But we have seen evidence, again and again, that where compliance with child protection guidelines is voluntary it is also often ignored.
To this end, let me declare again that the days of voluntary compliance are over when it comes to child protection.
The new legislation I am bringing forward will provide for a strong system of inspection and oversight and the need to provide demonstrable evidence that the guidance is being implemented correctly across all sectors.
A range of existing inspection mechanisms will be used to support compliance across the statutory sector.
HIQA are currently developing child protection standards and will monitor/inspect all health funded services to ensure compliance with Children First. They will also inspect how HSE Child and Family Services undertakes its specific statutory function under the Child Care Act 1991. Other Government Inspectorates, for instance in the Department of Education and Science, will, in the course of schools inspections, look to see how Children First is being implemented across the schools sector.
In the case of organisations, statutory or non-statutory, that are not monitored by an Inspectorate, I am proposing that the legislation will provide the necessary powers to allow the HSE; and thereafter the new Child and Family Services Agency; to carry out audits/inspections for compliance and also to investigate complaints of organisational failure to comply.
Overall Children First will be supported by an assurance system – a framework setting out the responsibilities of each Government Department and sector working with children. Implementation of Children First will be monitored by an interdepartmental committee chaired by my Department that will be established. I will also be arranging for a review of Children First implementation to be carried out independently each year and a report submitted to me.
This focus on compliance does not in anyway underestimate that we need capacity in our services to provide good child protection services. In line with the Programme for Government I am committed to implementation of the Ryan Report’s recommendations and I am happy to report that by the end of this year we will have recruited 260 of the 270 additional social workers proposed by Ryan. In recognition of the importance of this work, social workers in child protection are exempt from the public sector moratorium, and vacancies are being filled, additional to the new posts.
The principles of keeping children safe have not changed in the last decade, but what we have learned is the need for proper implementation, for independent inspection, for vigilance and for legislative compliance. It is no longer sufficient to say what needs to be done. We must ensure that all of society, particularly those in trusted positions with children, are fully aware of their responsibilities to children and are supported in their work.
I believe that the publication today of Children First, combined with the legislation I am proposing, the implementation measures to follow, the creation of my new Department for Children Youth Affairs and the establishment of planned new Child And Family Support Agency will cumulatively leave a lasting legacy on child protection through putting in place the laws, the practices and the mechanisms to seek that the evils highlighted in cases such as Roscommon and Cloyne are never again allowed to take root in any setting.