National Pyjama Day 2023

Protecting Children

Protecting Children

 November 10th is an important day for children in Ireland.  It is the day we are asked to vote to change the constitution on children’s rights. The proposed Amendment will give people the option of updating the Constitution to reflect our shared values in relation to ensuring the protection of all of our children.

Article 42A.2.1° In exceptional cases, where the parents, regardless of their marital status, fail in their duty towards their children to such extent that the safety or welfare of any of their children is likely to be prejudicially affected, the State as guardian of the common good shall, by proportionate means as provided by law, endeavour to supply the place of the parents, but always with due regard for the natural and imprescriptible rights of the child.

 

Children have a right to be protected against harm and to be kept safe. Sometimes a child’s parents may not provide enough care to keep them safe , and the State may have to intervene and offer support to families at an early stage, and in some exceptional  cases offer alternative caregivers for the children.

Article 42A.2.1° clarifies how and when the State can step in to protect children. It is an amended version of an existing article in the Constitution -Article 42.5 – which it will replace.The proposed new article shifts from focusing solely on the parents’ failure to the impact of that failure on the child.It provides the State with the power to act when the “safety or welfare” of a child “is likely to be prejudicially affected”, at an early stage.

Articles 41 and 42 of the Constitution apply only to marital families. Repealing Article 42.5 and inserting a provision into the new Article 42A.2.1 with an explicit reference to parents “regardless of their marital status” will require the courts to provide an equitable standard of protection to all children, regardless of whether their parents are married or unmarried.

 

 Article 42A.2.2° Provision shall be made by law for the adoption of any child where the parents have failed for such a period of time as may be prescribed by law in their duty towards the child and where the best interests of the child so require.

The second part of the amendment allows a child the opportunity of being adopted, where the parents have met a high threshold of failure towards the child.This offers children in foster care a second chance of a stable and permanent family life through adoption. Alongside this, is draft legislation by the Government , that specifies the length of time that parents must have failed in their duties, before a child can be adopted

At present children in long term foster care in Ireland cannot be adopted unless it is proven that the parents have failed in their duties towards the child, and that this situation is likely to continue until the child’s 18th birthday. This is very difficult to prove in court and currently 2,000 children in long term foster care (in care for over 5 years) in Ireland are in legal limbo – many of whom have little or no contact with their parents.

The proposed Amendment will put the best interests of children at the centre of decision-making. As State intervention will continue to be an exceptional measure, there is continued recognition that the best place for children is with their parents.  Any intervention or support will always be proportionate to the risk facing the child. This means that a child is only removed from his or her parents where no other appropriate action can be taken which will protect the child’s safety and welfare in the home.

A more in depth analysis of the proposed Article 42 is on the Children’s Right’s Alliance website.

 

Protecting Children in Early Years Settings

 

Children first Children First is the national guidance on child welfare and protection. It states 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HSE Child Protection and Welfare Practice Handbook

child protection handbookIn July 2011, Minister Fitzgerald published the HSE Child Protection and Welfare Handbook which had been developed by the National Office for Child and Family Services in the HSE. The handbook is based on protocols as ser out in the Children First National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2011 to support the work of social workers and other relevant practitioners in dealing with child protection and welfare cases.

 

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