The information contained in this section outlines the CYC Child Protection Policy and the CYC Garda Vetting Policy and Procedures.


The Mission of Catholic Youth Care is to promote a youth work response that is caring, compassionate and Christian and enables young people to participate more fully in the life of society and church.  Catholic Youth Care is committed to the safety and well being of all children in our care.  CYC has a dedicated Child Protection Office with responsibility for garda vetting, child abuse referrals, volunteer application process, provision of training for staff and volunteers, monitoring of implementation of CYC child protection policies and procedures and code of good practice.

Child Protection is at the forefront of Catholic Youth Care’s direct work with children. CYC maintains a professional approach and a code of ethics that is founded on good practice and is informed by current best practices in the area.  The safety and wellbeing of children in our care is paramount.  Our approach is consistent with the CYC mission statement which aims to provide a caring, compassionate and Christian approach and the protection of children is central to the daily practice of staff and volunteers.

The rights of children are enshrined in the constitution of Ireland and international and domestic law.  In Ireland, the key legislative provisions regarding the safety, well being and protection of children are as follows;

• The Child Care Act, 1991
• Domestic Violence Act, 1996
• Protections for Persons reporting Act, 1998
• The Education Act, 1998
• The Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997
• Freedom of Information Act, 1997
• The Education and Welfare Act, 2000
• Children’s Act, 2001
Ombudsman for Children Act, 2002

The Statutory Authorities with responsibility for the protection and welfare of children are;
• The Health Service Executive
• An Gardai Siochana

Catholic Youth Care operates our child protection procedures in accordance with the ‘National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children’, ‘Children First’, Department of Health and Children, (1999). ‘Child Protection – Code of Good Practice for the Youth Work Sector’, Department of Education and Science, (2002) and ‘Our children, Our Church’, Child Protection Policies and Procedures for the Catholic Church in Ireland (2005).

Catholic Youth Care, accepts our responsibility and obligation to safeguard the protection and welfare of children in our care, we undertake to ensure a best practice response to child protection issues by having a clear child protection policy and procedures which are designed to underpin and demonstrate our commitment to our duty of care.

The welfare of the child is paramount in every circumstance.

CYC guidelines e.g. ‘The Code of Good Practice’ give clear direction and guidance on child protection issues.  It is incumbent upon every adult working with children to uphold their moral responsibility in reporting concerns, allegations, suspicions or a disclosure about child abuse to the Designated Officer for Child Protection.

The CYC child protection policy is implemented by;

• Having in place recruitment and selection procedures for staff and volunteers;
• Having a code of good practice in youth work for the protection of children;
• Having an obligation on staff as part of their terms of employment to observe this code of good practice;
• Having an obligation on affiliated youth groups to implement the selection procedures for volunteers and to observe the code of good youth work practice for the protection of children;
• Ensuring all staff members/volunteers undertake Child Protection Training;
• Ensuring training provision training during the staff the induction period and refreshers will be delivered subsequent to basic awareness and information training.
• Having procedures in place for reporting disclosures, allegations, suspicions and awareness of all forms of abuse to the civil authorities;
By having pastoral support measures for victims and their families, staff and volunteers through the services of a designated Child Protection Officer, the Director and Council.

CYC operates under the guidance and direction outlined in the ‘Child Protection – Code of Good Practice for the Youth Work Sector’, Department of Education and Science, (2002).  Some key procedural points are outlined below:

• All child protection concerns / issues will be reported to and dealt with by the CYC Child Protection Officer.
• In making any report an individual needs to take the following into consideration:
• The protection and safety of the child is paramount;
• The principle of natural justice – a person is innocent until proven otherwise.

The principle of confidentiality – only those that need to know should be told of a suspicion/allegation/disclosure of abuse and that the number that needs to be kept informed should be kept to a minimum.

In the case of a disclosure/suspicion or allegation of child abuse, the staff member / volunteer must report without delay to the Child Protection Liaison Person in the local region.  The Child Protection Liaison Person will report without delay to the CYC Child Protection Officer.  The Child protection Officer will fulfil the function of ‘Designated Officer’ and follow procedures as outlined in the guidelines above.

Where an allegation is made against a volunteer or against a youth group member, the staff member receiving the allegation should make contact with the local Child Protection Liaison person for their region who in turn will consult with the CYC Child Protection Officer.

Where an allegation is made against a staff member, employed on a full or part time basis, then the person who receives the allegation should notify the Team Leader of the worker concerned.  He/She will follow necessary procedures in consultation with the CYC Child Protection Officer. Procedures will follow those laid out in Section 8.3  of The Code of Good Practice Child Protection for the Youth Work Sector.

Where an allegation is made to a staff member against a member of management, notify the CYC Child Protection Officer in order for him/her to take action.

In the case of an emergency, where a child is deemed at serious risk and where no contact with CYC Child Protection Representatives is possible, the course of action is to contact the local Garda station.

Any intentional breach of the Code of Good Practice is a disciplinary matter and will be dealt with by the Head of Region and the Head of Human Resources.

Additional information is available by viewing the child protection guidelines, ‘Child Protection – Code of Good Practice for the Youth Work Sector’, Department of Education and Science, (2002) on  www.education.ie