Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults Help! Sheet

It is important for groups working with children, young people or vulnerable adults to ensure that they are aware of the responsibilities placed on them, both by specific legislation and the common law duty of care.

The Management Committee is ultimately responsible for ensuring that these obligations are met. By so doing, they will help to protect, not only these vulnerable groups, but also the organisation, its staff and its volunteers.

The obligations placed on organisations are designed to ensure that they:

a) recruit suitable people to care for vulnerable persons; and

b) operate on the basis of good practice policies and procedures in order to minimise the risk of harm to those in their care.

Working with children

Guidance is provided below for those groups who provide day care services, those who have staff in regulated positions and issues which impact on all those who work with children and young people.

Provision of day care services

Groups that provide ‘day care services' (e.g. pre-school playgroups, crèches, after school clubs etc) have legal obligations under The Children (NI) Order 1995.

The Children (NI) Order 1995 obliges all ‘day care service' providers to register with their local Health and Social Care Trust. They are required to operate according to registration criteria and are regularly inspected.

Note - Organisations and groups who provide ‘supervised activities' (e.g. youth clubs, uniformed organisations, sports groups, dance clubs etc) are exempt from the requirements of the Children (NI) Order.

Further information:

Appendix 2 - The Children (NI) Order 1995
A simple downloadable guide to the Children (NI) Order. (Part of the Our Duty to Care guide to good practice in child protection from the Volunteer Development Agency).

Local Health and Social Care Trusts
To register as a day care service provider, speak to the Registration and Inspection Unit in your local Health and Social Care Trust.

Employees or volunteers in ‘regulated positions' (Please note that this section is currently UNDER REVIEW)

A regulated position is one whose normal duties include caring for, training, counselling, advising, supervising or being in sole charge of children. It also includes a manager or supervisor of someone in a regulated position.

Groups who have employees or volunteers who are appointed to a ‘regulated position' have legal obligations under The Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults Order (2003).

The Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults Order (2003) came into force in April 2005. In order to comply with this legislation Management Committees should ensure that they are registered to use the Access NI service. They should also ensure that procedures are in place to ensure that all staff and volunteers appointed to regulated positions after registration are checked through the Access NI Service.

Access NI aims to help organisations working with children to check prospective employees and volunteers. It informs you whether or not the applicant is listed on a barred list and provides you with criminal history information.

Further information:

Access NI Guide - (also available from the Volunteer Development Agency website) - POCVA FAQ - Protection of Children - VDA.

Choosing to Protect
Guidelines to help you understand how the POCVA legislation affects you.  POCVA Info Sheet - Children - VDA.

Working with children or young people

All voluntary and community groups working with children and young people have obligations under the common law ‘duty of care'.

Essentially this means that organisations must ensure that the standard of care provided meets reasonable expectations, bearing in mind generally accepted good practice standards.

In practice, this places an obligation on the Management Committee of the group or organisation to ensure that they have in place good child protection policies and procedures. They will also be expected to have measures in place to ensure that these are routinely followed, for example through mandatory staff training.

Implementing good practice helps to minimise the risk of harm to children or young people in their care and also helps to protect the organisation, its staff and its volunteers.

Further information:

Common Law Duty of Care Help! Sheet
A simple guide to understanding the ‘duty of care' and how it relates to Management Committee responsibilities.

Getting it Right
Volunteer Development Agency guide to standards of good practice in child protection.

Our Duty to Care
Volunteer Development Agency guide outlining principles of child protection good practice and including practical resources such as sample forms.

Volunteer Development Agency
Support, advice and training in issues relating to child protection.

Working with vulnerable adults (Please note that this section is currently UNDER REVIEW)

Groups and organisations working with vulnerable adults must ensure that they meet their obligations under the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults Order (2003) and under the common law duty of care.

Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults Order (2003)

This legislation defines vulnerable adults as individuals over 18 years who receive:

• Accommodation, nursing or personal care in a residential/nursing home;
• Personal care in their own home, such as personal hygiene, mobility assistance, administration of medicine; and
• Prescribed services by private hospital or health services body such as rehabilitation, chiropody etc.

The legislation obliges all groups who are ‘care providers' (e.g. nursing or residential homes or domiciliary care agencies) to register with Access NI and ensure that all employees or volunteers in a care position are checked through this service prior to employment.

Further information:

Protection of Vulnerable Adults Information Sheet
A simple guide to the main provisions of the POCVA legislation.

Choosing to Protect
A guide to the POCVA legislation and requirements for organisations.

Common Law Duty of Care

As for organisations working with children, all voluntary and community groups working with vulnerable adults have obligations under the common law ‘duty of care'.

Essentially this means that organisations must ensure that the standard of care provided meets reasonable expectations, bearing in mind generally accepted good practice standards.

In practice, this places an obligation on the Management Committee of the group or organisation to ensure that they have in place good policies and procedures to ensure that practices within the organisation do not form a threat of harm to a vulnerable person unable to protect themselves.

Further information:

Common Law Duty of Care Help! Sheet
A simple guide to understanding the ‘duty of care' and how it relates to Management Committee responsibilities.