Response to the

Draft Heads of Children First Bill 2012

1. Setting the Scene

Early Childhood Ireland very much welcomes the Heads of the Children First Bill 2012 and values the opportunity to make a submission at this early stage.As a membership-based organisation with 3,200 affiliates providing care and education across pre-schools, playgroups, full day care and after school settings to 70,000 children daily, we have long identified the need for resourced policies and legislation to place mandatory reporting on a formal footing. The Heads of the Children First Bill 2012 is timely in relation to the shortfalls and failings of our systems, the reports that have emerged and the proposed Referendum on the Rights of the Child.

Early Childhood Ireland wishes to contribute to shaping legislation thatis fit-for-purpose, that creates a climate of confidence,that is robust in its implementation and that provides children and adults with a responsive and dependable system. The organisation (formerly IPPA and NCNA) has long advocated for greater visibility of children within the Constitution and for access to training and supports for those adults who work with children and families.

Within the draft Heads of Children First Bill 2012, Early Childhood Ireland recognises the consistent commitment to the principles of children’s wellbeing. We endorse the holistic approach and interdepartmental co-operation that is signposted throughout the Heads of Bill, in particular between the HSE, An Garda Siochana and DCYA (Head 17). We welcome and understand as essential the commitment to provide an information and advisory service to assist Designated Officers, which has not been available under the current system. A serious lacking in the current system has been the absence of feedback to the Designated Liaison Person (DLP) once a report has been filed but we note under the proposed Bill an obligation on the HSE to inform the Designated Officer as to the status of the report, which is a positive and welcome development.

The legacy of failure in protecting children highlight issues of capability, capacity and credibility within the system and we look to the proposed Children First Bill as an opportunity to regain confidence in the system, to adequately resource it and to ensure the child’s right to protection.

This submission will set the context of early childhood care and education services, centralise the child within the discussion, highlight the important role of the adult in implementing any proposed legislation and consider the characteristics of an effective child protection system. Early Childhood Ireland will foreground a number of issues in the proposed Heads of Children First Bill 2012, policy alignment, scope of the Bill, definition of ‘organisation’ and the role of the Designated Officer.

2. Profiling the Sector

While acknowledging the Heads of Bill, the implementation of Children First cannot be viewed in isolation, devoid of the context in which early childhood care and education services operate. The current context for ECCE services is challenging and demanding. The formal early childhood care and education sector comprises of 4,600 services notified to the HSE, of whom 70% are affiliated to Early Childhood Ireland. These service providers include private and community run groups that provide preschool sessional services (Montessori and playgroups), full day care, after school, out of school services and some childminders for children from birth to 12 years of age.

Our members have committed to ethical working with children, families and communities.They currently work with Early Childhood Ireland to process Garda Vetting for each employee / volunteer (as appropriate), notify HSE of operations and are subject to inspections by HSE, NERA and Pobal. Whether operating in a private or community setting, there are significantpolicy and legislative requirements on these small businesses.It is conservatively estimated that senior managers undertake an additional 12 hours per week over and above their daily contact with children, staff and parents in the serviceto complete administration requirements (ECCE and other funding schemes; HR; Finance) with no additional remuneration. Early Childhood Ireland’s Annual Member’s Survey emphasised the frustrations of services in trying to access Children First Training for staff. In total 52% of the respondents to our survey last year indicated that staff had not hadaccess to Children First Training in the previous year.

Practitioners and services work to support children’s wellbeing and learning. They maintain and centralise the best interests of the child but they require training and support to do so.

  1. Locating the Child

Early Childhood Ireland places the child at the centre of the discussion on these vital issues of protection and welfare. The child that informs our thinking and guides our practice is a competent child with rights.

In the past we as a society believed that children should be seen and not heard, that pain in childhood was forgotten in adulthood and that we spared the rod and spoilt the child to our peril. This deficit stance portrayed the child as needy, voiceless and passive – a child that would not talk out and that could not be heard. This understanding and view of the child has brought us to this point today.

(3.1) Early Childhood Ireland recommends that future policy and legislation, emerging from this consultative process, should position the child at the centre, not merely in terms of protection and welfare but from a broader more holistic perspective which seeks to support the rights and well-being of children. A child with voice, who is confident of being heard and listened to is a better protected child, actively participating in their own protection.

4. Positioningthe Adult

The adult who engages with the child as a volunteer or in a paid capacity, regardless of the setting, is the key to providing a safe and secure environment. The child learns and develops within and through relationships, in other words the child needs the secure and consistent presence of others. Learning ‘to be’ in healthy relationships provides a lifelong benchmark for young children in recognising unhealthy contexts. In being picked up and cuddled, in sitting on the adult’s lap listening to a story, in being helped to self-manage in toileting and washing, the child experiences care and education, a sense of trust and being valued. To provide secure conditions and environments, adults must be confident in their practices and secure in the ways they respond to and work with young children.

(4.1) Early Childhood Ireland recognises that work with young children is underpinned byqualifications, training and access to support and continuing professional development.

5. Constructing the System

The Heads of Children First Bill 2012 provides a tangible opportunity to build a connectedsystem. Under the weight of scandals, reports and insufficient investment, our current system of child protection lacks credibility and reliability. Like scaffolding, a system of child protection should be robust and secure, capable of dealing with volume; providing coverage so that it is inclusive; connected in that all bodies/agencies are linked and listening; and providing some flexibility without interfering with the integrity of the structure of daily life.

The birth rate is increasing, the number of children eligible in 2012 for the Government ECCE scheme in the 3-4 age range is 66,000. A recent Irish Times article (Helen Buckley, 9.5.2012) suggested that where reporting legislation has been implemented one in every four or five children in the population is reported to the child protection services each year. This would equate with an annual reporting figure of over 13,000 for this one age group. A world class system that keeps our children safe would be one that:

  • Understands children as citizens with rights
  • Is collaborative across voluntary and statutory agencies
  • Is resourced and prioritises preventive strategies
  • Is committed to supporting children and families outside normal working hours
  • Is dedicated to strengthening the capacity of everyone who works (voluntary/paid) with children
  • Has restored confidence in the processes and procedures pertaining to child protection

6. Emerging Issues from the Heads of Children First Bill 2012

In reviewing the Heads of Children First Bill (2012) four key themes appear which have high relevance for the early childhood sector. Detailed commentary on individual Heads of Bill are provided in the attached Appendix A.

6.1Policy Alignment

The draft Heads of Bill 2012 propose an ambitious system that integrates across departments and agencies. However, the language, definitions and concepts of all relevant policies must be aligned and proofed to bring clarity to what is a complex process.

Within the current draft discrepancies or inconsistencies occur:

  • Emotional abuse is categorised within the Children First Guidance document and Protections for Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act, 1998, but is not included in the current document
  • Under the draft Heads of Bill reporting must be made in writing to the HSE where in Children First Guidance (2011) reporting can be in writing, by phone or in person.
  • A Designated Officer must maintain all relevant records but clarity is needed on implications in meeting Data Protection requirements
  • There is strong overlap and duplication of information required under the current draft Heads of Bill and by the HSE Inspectorate under the Child Care Act (1991) and subsequent Regulations (2006).
  • The Draft Heads of Bill (2012) fails to identify the relationship between HSE Inspectors, the service/organisation and the Designated Officer

(6.1.1) Early Childhood Ireland proposes that a new system must ensure that the Child Care Regulations (2006); the forthcoming Garda Vetting Bureau Bill; The Children First National Guidance (2011); Data Protection Acts and the Children First Bill must be coherent and speak uniformly across all documents.

Language must be consistent and where overlap occurs requirements must be clear. The role of the HSE, Inspection Teams, Children and Family Services and the DCYA must be clear to our members and other end users.

6.2Scope of the Bill

The protection of all children must come within the scope of the Bill irrespective of the setting in which they are cared for.

Childminders are important in the Irish early childhood care and education sector. Figures from the Central Statistics Office (2007), identify the most prevalent form of non-parental childcare for pre-school children as being Creche/Montessori/Playgroup (19%) followed by Childminder/Au Pair/Nanny (12%), with childminders in both HSE notified and non-notified categories. While numbers attending childminders remained static in the period 2002-2007, it is assumed that the levels of childminding have increased in recent times.

At the Early Childhood Ireland Conference (April 2012), Dr. Jan Peeters from the University of Ghent, advised that in Belgium (like Ireland), childminders comprise a significant informal sector. From their research, Dr. Peeeters and his colleagues have found that life patterns are changing and that childminders are becoming a more transient group, staying in the sector for fewer years than previously. This trend means that a small country like Belgium requires 1,000 new childminders annually merely to replace those exiting the sector. This turnover has resulted in a significant increase of child protection issues.

The numbers of children attending childminders in Ireland and the potential turnover of childminders emphasise the need to include this sector within the scope of the Bill.

School age and out of school services currently operate outside of regulation. To better understand their scope and remit data is currently being collated on numbers and patterns of usage on a county by county basis. Parents rely on out of school services for peace of mind to participate in the labour force and for children, this sector provides wonderful opportunities for recreation, learning, personal development and socialisation. This sector currently operates outside policy, legislation, governance or requirements.

The issue of children’s rights arise if childminders and out of school providers are omitted from the proposed Bill. While there is an intention in the draft Heads of Bill not to undermine parental choice or rights, children also have rights under the UNCRC to the provision of basic needs, to participation in decision making and protection from harmful and abusive acts and processes. These rights should apply irrespective of the settings, be it a pre-school, full day care, childminding or out of school context.

(6.2.1)Early Childhood Ireland believes that because all children deserve protection, we have no option but to include all those working directly with young children/youth under the remit of this Children First Bill 2012.

The Bill includes pre-school or full day care staff with a HETAC Level 7 Award as Mandated Professionals in Schedule I.The purpose of this inclusion is unclear. HETAC Level 7 is not a required or uniform qualification across senior posts within schools and crèches. The FETAC Level is the most common qualification in the sector.

(6.2.2) Early Childhood Ireland suggests that this category should be renamed or reclassified to ‘Early Childhood Care and Education Professionals, not covered under Schedule I’.

6.3Organisations

The draft Heads of Bill 2012 narrowly defines ‘organisation’ and places a significant weight of responsibility and consequences for failing to meet the requirements across all organisational types irrespective of their size or capacity to engage.

Existing demands on service owners/managers/supervisors in the sector mean that in addition to delivering a service to children and families, an extra 12 hours per working week on average are spent on HR, Administration (schemes), Revenue, NERA, Health and Safety requirements.

Under the proposed draft Heads of Bill 2012, the organisation (and frequently this person will also be the Designated Officer) will now have an additional role with significant responsibilities carrying penalties for failures to comply. A small pre-school service (organisation) with four staff members will now be required to provide training for employees and volunteers (without any additional resources), carry out an annual audit and establish an internal audit committee.

Early Childhood Ireland has a track record of working to protect children with both theHSE and the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU). Since the inception of ourformalised partnership in 2008 with the HSE and the GCVU, we have processed in the region of 60,000 applications. We believe that in broadening the definition of ‘organisation’, Early Childhood Ireland could be positioned to provide greater supports to our members in implementingthis legislation.

(6.3.1)Early Childhood Ireland proposes that the definition of ‘organisation’ be broadened to include national bodies or bodies of affiliation.

6.4Designated Officer

The Designated Officer is conceptualised as the most senior person in the organisation. 60% of our members they will be designated as both ‘the organisation’ and the ‘designated officer’ and as such will carry the duties, responsibilities and penalties of both roles. 15% of Early Childhood Ireland’s members comprise of voluntary boards of management running community based services, typically in areas of disadvantage. Increasing responsibilities on voluntary boards of management has rendered it almost impossible to have effective and involved board representation. The proposed Children First Bill which will criminalise failures to report will contribute to the demise of voluntary boards in the community sector.

Early Childhood Ireland believes that the Designated Officer is a new legitimate role, for which there is a mandate and penalties for failure, but no visible commitment to provide additional resources or training. Services are overstretched and under resourced. Should legislation be enacted without accompanying resources, the Children First Bill will be rendered inoperable and ineffective at a local level. The challenge for ECCE services will be to negotiate and resource this formalised role.

(6.4.1)Early Childhood Ireland requires that ‘Organisations’, ‘Designated Officers’ and others working with children be resourced to implement new legislative requirements.

(6.4.2)Early Childhood Ireland is a national, established and credible body, quality assured with the national awarding bodies (FETAC and HETAC) for training from Level 4 to Level 8. With a proven record in working for the protection of children, we propose to provide training supports for Designated Officers in member services to alleviate stresses in the system and to complement mandated supports through the HSE.

  1. Summing Up

There is much to be welcomed within the proposed Draft Heads of Children First Bill 2012, a renewed commitment to protecting and safeguarding children; an integral and central emphasis on the wellbeing of the child; a whole system approach and the provision of an information and advisory service to assist Designated Officers.

This legislation is vital but its implementation as outlined in the Heads of Children First Bill 2012 will place unmanageable pressure on preschool services to comply. The end system, must seek to harnessand maximise existing resources where possible. Early Childhood Ireland believes that we can ably and confidently support this development in a number of ways, becoming the designated ‘organisation’, providing training to services and facilitating annual audits.

We recognise that communication between department and agencies must be regular, systematic and timely. Silos at all levels and across all bodies (statutory and voluntary) must be broken down, challenging the view thatchild protection is the responsibility of only one government department or agency.

The Bill speaks of children’s wellbeing but the current tone of the document is punitive rather than supportive. Early Childhood Ireland sees this Children First Bill as an opportunity to put in place systems that ensure and promote child protection as a community endeavour.

The roles of the ‘Organisation’ and ‘Designated officer’ are vital and with 96% of children currently attending in the state ECCE scheme, these services can be understood as hubs where parents, families and preschool providers meet on a daily basis. Investment in training and support for these roles will up-skill those involved and equip them to make better judgements, keeping children safe and ensuring best use of state resources. Properly resourced, preschool services could be transformative, making reports where necessary, but also connecting families in need with statutory services and signposting opportunities for prevention and early intervention. To develop and retain staff as Designated Officers means that the role should not be understood or perceived as an ‘add on’ responsibility or a ‘punitive burden’ but rather as a valued and recompensed role within each service.