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- Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children’.
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Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children
The IACP has formally adopted the ‘Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children’.
These guidelines are intended to assist people in identifying and reporting child abuse and to improve professional practice in both statutory and voluntary agencies and organisations that provide services for children and families. They aim, in particular, to clarify and promote mutual understanding among statutory and voluntary organisations about the contributions of different disciplines and professions to child protection. They emphasise that the needs of children and families must be at the centre of child care and child protection activity and that a partnership approach must inform the delivery of services. They also highlight the importance of consistency between policies and procedures across health boards and other statutory and voluntary organisations.
They emphasise in particular that the welfare of children is of paramount importance. The National Guidelines cover all children and not just children who are victims of abuse or neglect. Inevitably, the investigation of child abuse involves an intrusion of privacy but this is offset by the greater good of protecting the child and other potential victims in the community; it is also offset by the need to honour legal and constitutional imperatives to punish the criminal abuser. One of the primary considerations of these National Guidelines is to minimise the stress involved by the investigation and assessment of child abuse. These guidelines aim to offer a comprehensive framework to assist professionals and other persons who have contact with children and wish to deal with any concerns they may have in relation to their safety and wellbeing. The guidelines embody the principles contained in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which was ratified by Ireland in 1992.
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