It can be very hard for children and young people to open up about what’s happened to them.
They might be worried about the consequences or that nobody will believe them. They might have told someone before and nothing was done to help them. Sometimes they might not know that what’s happening to them is abuse and struggle to share what they’re feeling. Some children don’t reveal they’re being abused for a long time, some never tell anyone (NSPCC).
Stay calm, express concern and sympathy, reassure and record in the child’s own words.
There are particular barriers for children in faith-based organisations, like our denomination, and we need to be mindful of them.
Remember that if a child or young person has chosen you to disclose something to, they have assessed you as being safe and as someone who will help them. This is a privilege to take very seriously.
Follow these simple steps if a child or young person begins to tell you about possible abuse or harm:
It is never your responsibility to investigate the disclosure, nor to judge the truth of the claims or the credibility of the child.
Please note that even if you know a child/their family is already known to Tusla you must report.
Harm to children and young people is not always brought to our attention by a disclosure.
We may also become aware because:
The same principles below apply for any concern of abuse or harm to a child, disclosed or not.
Everyone should be alert to possibility of children that they have contact with may be abused or at risk of being abused. Acting sensitively but responsibility is a universal duty on all members of the congregation.
Reports to Tusla can be made through the Tusla Online Portal, in person, by telephone or in writing to the duty social work office in the area where the child lives.
The Tusla Portal allows users to securely submit Child Protection and Welfare Report Forms (CPWRFs) and Retrospective Abuse Report Forms (RARFs) to Tusla online.
Contact details for duty social work offices nationwide are available on the Tusla website
The Children First Act 2015 places legal obligations on certain persons to report child protection concerns at or above a defined threshold to Tusla.
People who have contact with children because of their qualification, training or employment. They are in key positions to protect children from harm.
In our denomination, this means all Ministers, youth workers and Elders based in, or working temporarily in, ROI.
Clergy and pastoral care workers of a church are named specifically in the Children First Act 2015. There is no exception and you have a legal obligation to report.
Mandated persons have 2 main roles under the Act:
The legal duty to report lies with the person who is a mandated reporter. There is nothing in the Act however to prevent a mandated person making a mandated report jointly in conjunction with the Designated Liaison Person. The church expects both to work together on the reporting of safeguarding concerns.
Kirk Session should keep a record of those with mandated reporting responsibilities in the congregation. These will include roles as set out in schedule 2 of the Act and includes Ministers, paid Pastoral care role and employed youth workers within the meaning of the Act. The congregation should also note those with 24/7 mandated reporting responsibilities such as members of the Garda and Tusla approved foster parents who are in positions of leadership in the church. The roles should be formally noted by the Kirk Session and reported on annually to the Clerk of the Presbytery on this form.
It is important to note that a visiting minister may also be a Mandated Reporter in the context of receiving any concerns and should follow the reporting guidance as set out in the Church and Children First National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017.
Kirk Session should be mindful of other roles which might qualify as having mandated reporting responsibilities: these include Additional Pastoral Personnel (APP), Deaconesses, Auxiliary Ministers and Mission Pioneers.
You will find details of who to report to on the Tusla website at www.tusla.ie/get-in-touch/duty-social-work-teams/ and through the following means:
If you are in any doubt about reporting, contact Tusla for advice. The Mandated Person and the Designated Liaison Person can seek informal advice from Tusla Dedicated Contact Point in the young person’s area if unsure about the threshold for reporting.
A Mandated Person is required to report any knowledge belief or reasonable suspicion. If your concern does not meet the threshold (as per the box to the right above) , but you feel you still have reasonable grounds for concern, still report this to Tusla.
The Mandated Person should ensure that they advise the Designated Liaison Person of the Tusla referral either after it is made or through a joint report.
You are not required to tell a family that you are making a mandated report to Tusla. However, it is good practice to do so and to describe the reasons for your decision, as long as you do not put the child at further risk by doing so.
You also do not need to tell the family if you believe that by doing so you will be placed at risk.
Section 14(1) of the Children First Act 2015 states:
‘…where a mandated person knows, believes or has reasonable grounds to suspect, on the basis of information that he or she has received, acquired or becomes aware of in the course of his or her employment or profession as such a mandated person, that a child –
(a) has been harmed,
(b) is being harmed, or
(c) is at risk of being harmed, he or she shall, as soon as practicable, report that knowledge, belief or suspicion, as the case may be, to the Agency.’
Section 14(2) of the Children First Act 2015 also places obligations on mandated persons to report any disclosures made by a child: ‘Where a child believes that he or she –
(a) has been harmed,
(b) is being harmed, or
(c) is at risk of being harmed
Section 2 of the Children First Act 2015 defines harm as follows: ‘harm means in relation to a child – (a) assault, ill-treatment or neglect of the child in a manner that seriously affects, or is likely to seriously affect the child's health, development or welfare, or (b) sexual abuse of the child.’
Tusla will assess all reports it receives.
Tusla will acknowledge that it has received your report.
To protect the privacy of the child and family, it may not be possible to inform you of the progress or outcomes of a report.
You must continue to manage any alleged perpetrator in a precautionary manner until Tusla has completed its processes (see below).
Each congregation must appoint a DLP who will take a lead in the protection of children and will liaise with outside agencies. Dependent on size, it may be appropriate to appoint one or more Deputy DLPs. The DLP will be the resource person for any member of the church or volunteer/parent who has a child protection concern and will liaise with outside agencies. They will oversee the congregation’s procedures and their implementation
The DLPs will work with the Mandated Persons in the reporting of concerns but the duty to report lies with the Mandated Person.
When a DLP is alerted to concerns about a child/young person, their role is to act promptly and in accordance with the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s reporting procedure, which will include the following steps:
If it is not considered a safeguarding issue, and it is decided that there should be no referral made to a statutory authority, a record should be made of the concern and the details kept on file, including any action taken, the reasons for not referring, and the situation monitored on an ongoing basis.
The employee or volunteer who raised the concern should be given a clear written explanation of the reasons why the concern is not being reported to Tusla, and the employee or volunteer should be advised that if they remain concerned about the situation, they are free to make a report to Tusla or An Garda Síochána.
The Children First Act 2015 provides that all Mandated Persons can be asked by Tusla to provide necessary and proportionate assistance to aid them in assessing the risk to a child arising from a mandated report. This is a legal requirement and arises irrespective of who made the report. It may include a request to provide further information, produce a verbal or written report or attend a meeting.
Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012
Under the Act it is a criminal offence to withhold information about a serious offence including a sexual offence against a person under 18 or a vulnerable person. It arises when a person knows or believes that a specified offense has been committed against a child or vulnerable person and they have information which would help arrest, prosecute or convict another person but fails without reasonable excuse to disclose that information as soon as practical to do so to the Garda. This is in additional to reporting requirements under the Children First Act 2015
Under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2006 the legal age of consent is 17. While a sexual relationship where on the parties is under 17 is illegal, it may not be regarded as child sexual abuse for the purposes of a mandated report.
There are a number of exemptions from the reporting of underage consensual sexual activity under the Children First Act if you are satisficed all of the following apply.
The legal obligation to report under the Act only applies to information that you acquire in the course of professional work. It does not apply to information given on a personal rather than professional relationship though Garda have 24/7 mandated reporting responsibilities. Members of the congregation in positions of leadership who may have mandated responsibilities in other roles and are not mandated for the purpose of the church should however always follow PCI and Children First guidance on reporting concerns to the DLP or Tusla if a child is at a risk of harm
Chapter 4 deals with non-recent disclosures of abuse and provides further guidance. Any child protection issues that arises that identify alleged offender will need to be referred to Tusla in line with this chapter. Concerns should be brought to the attention of the DLP
It is very important that good records are kept on safeguarding matters; congregations should use the note of concern here on the PCI website.
Records should be factual and include details of contacts, consultations and any actions taken. It is important that all actions taken by the DLP and those with mandated reporting responsibilities are documented.
All agencies dealing with children must cooperate in the sharing of records with Tusla where a child protection or welfare issue arises. An example of this could be information needed for a Child Protection Conference or Strategy Meeting or information important for the assessment of risk to a child.
Ensure that records on child protection concerns, allegations and disclosures are kept securely and safely within the organisation.
Records should only be used for the purpose for which they are intended and should only be shared on a need-to-know basis in the best interests of the child/young person.
Child protection and welfare records should be updated as required and reviewed regularly by the Designated Liaison Person.
There are dual processes that need to occur in relation to when there are allegations against a leader.
Information, concerns or allegations about leaders can come from a number of different places in the course of a referral to statutory agencies, from the Garda or Tusla members and this guidance sets out further steps the congregation needs to take in relation to these.
The first priority always is to ensure that no child is exposed to unnecessary risk. The welfare of a child and reporting of concerns to Tusla and the Garda gets precedence in all situations, regardless of who the alleged perpetrator is.
To that end, managing a disclosure or reporting a concern externally if the alleged perpetrator is a minister or elder of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland is no different to a situation of the same nature involving any other leader, volunteer, staff member or member of the public.
The detailed provisions of the protocol for the Immediate Mangement of Safeguarding Concerns as they relate to allegations against leaders should be followed. This can be downloaded here.
If a member of the Church feels their concerns have not been taken seriously by the Church they should follow the Church’s whistle-blowing policy.
Follow all steps as outlined in this chapter for external reporting, without delay.
This guidance will also be augmented by the Protocol for the Immediate Management of Safeguarding Concerns see: Link
Internal reporting is required alongside any external reporting to Tusla so the immediate risks can be managed across all potential areas of concern.
For example, the issue may have been raised in the context of Sunday School, but the individual of concern might also be a Youth Club leader or engaged in another church.
Any individual in an organisation who has reported or needs to report a child protection concern should advise the leader in charge of their specific organisation, unless that person is the alleged perpetrator.
The Leader in Charge should advise the Minister (Convenor if vacant) and the Designated Liaison Person.
If the alleged perpetrator is the Leader in Charge, the individual should go straight to the Minister and/or the Designated Liaison Person.
If the allegation is about a DLP, it should be reported to the Minister of the congregation.
If it is about a Minister, the report should be made to the DLP.
INTERNAL REPORTING
Individual with concern to raise
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Leader in charge of the organisation
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Minister (Mandated Person) and Designated Liaison Person
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Protective measures in place until statutory assessment
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Reviewed after statutory outcome
The Minister and/or the Designated Liaison Person and an Elder should, as a matter of urgency, take any necessary protective measures. These measures should be proportionate to the level of risk.
Protective measures taken are precautionary and not disciplinary. Disciplinary action is not the remit of the Safeguarding Team or these procedures.
The protective measures are an interim measure pending the statutory authorities’ consideration of the matter firstly.
Protective measures may include but are not limited to:
If a statutory authority decides that there is no issue for them to follow up on, there will be a further assessment of risk or concerns internally, to support decision-making as to next steps.
Just because there is no ongoing statutory involvement does not mean there are no concerns to manage.
If statutory authorities decide that there is a risk for children and/or young people, the church has no authority to override this.
The church must take its lead from the statutory services assessment in this instance and act to fully protect children.
The Minister (Mandated Person) and Designated Liaison Person can take confidential advice from:
This is a wide part of its remit and it can advise what immediate protective steps can be taken and guide through all of the processes.
It is normal to advise the safeguarding officers that there has been a child protection issue but congregations should take immediate protective steps to protect children and make referrals to Tusla.
This individual can advise on church-led processes and decision-making.
In some circumstances, it may be appropriate to escalate to the Office of the Clerk of the General Assembly.
It is critical that confidentiality is maintained, so it is not always appropriate to share sensitive information with the full Kirk Session. Most Sessions now have a small, delegated team to manage the local safeguarding, and members of this team can be consulted. This will comprise the minister as Mandated Reporter (or Convenor in the case of a vacancy) the Designated Liaison Person, DDLP and Elder with safeguarding responsibilities
The Minister and one Elder should privately inform the staff member/volunteer/Elder:
No details of the victim should be given.
The staff member/volunteer/elder should be afforded an opportunity to respond and the response should be noted and passed on if making a formal report to Tusla and/or An Garda Síochána.
At this stage, it is important to note that the staff member/volunteer/Elder against whom an allegation has been made, and his/her family, will require pastoral care, as will any alleged victims and their families.
The individual providing pastoral support to the alleged perpetrator must be a different individual to the one providing pastoral support to the victim and their family.
In the event that the Minister is the individual about whom the allegations are made, all of the above applies; however, these steps will be taken by the Clerk of Presbytery and either the Deputy Clerk or Clerk of the General Assembly.
If any individual has any concerns about a person in a position of trust in the church and feel unable to use the above internal procedure for dealing with an allegation against staff or volunteers on any child protection matter, they should in the first instance contact the PCI Safeguarding Office.
Workers, volunteers or any members of the congregation should be aware that if they are dissatisfied with an internal response to a reported child protection matter, they have the protection of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 with recourse to a range of organisations including Tusla and HIQA.
CHAPTER END