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Triple P – Fear Less (Reducing Anxiety in Children) are delivering a 2 hour talk for parents of children aged 6 – 12 year olds, who might be concerned about their child/teen experiencinganxiety in the areas listed below in January 2019.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs have lauched a new website which will highlight the range of services and training on offer by local County Childcare Committee's to both parents and childcare providers. 

Click on the link below to view the new website. 

www.myccc.ie

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr Katherine Zappone T.D.,  marked the first anniversary of the full commencement of the Children First Act 2015 on Tuesday 11th December 

Speaking the Minister said, “11 December 2018 marks the first anniversary of a significant milestone in our efforts to protect children from abuse and neglect. This day last year I commenced the final provisions in the Children First Act, placing a legal obligation on certain categories of persons to report serious child protection concerns to Tusla and improving child protection arrangements in organisations providing services to children”.

The Minister highlighted the significant impact that the Act has had, noting that “between December last year and the end of September this year Tusla received almost 9,500 mandated reports of children who may have been harmed or who may be at risk of harm and have been able to take steps to support the children that need help.”

The Minister also highlighted the work that has been done, in organisations that provide relevant services to children, to prepare and publish Child Safeguarding Statements saying “Protecting children is everyone’s responsibility and I would like to commend the organisations across the country that have put time and effort into developing their Child Safeguarding Statements. Your work will help to keep children safe as they engage in educational, sporting and other activities.”

The Minister also encouraged all organisations working with children to check their responsibilities under Children First to ensure that they are in compliance and reminded people that a range of resources are available to support the implementation of Children First, saying “Tusla has produced a range of great resources to support you in implementing Children First. In particular, a 90 minute e-learning training module is available free of charge on their website. I would urge anyone working with children or anyone who is unsure of what to do when they suspect a child is at risk to complete the training. Almost 177,000 people have so far taken the time to do this and they are now better equipped to recognise and respond to child protection concerns”.

Taken together, the Children First Act, the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 and the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012-2016, represent a significant legislative framework to promote the safety and protection of children. Recognising this the Minister said “Much has been achieved in recent years to safeguard and protect our children but we cannot afford to become complacent. We must all continue to work together to make Ireland one of the best places in the world to be a child.”

We will be rolling out further rounds of Hanen Teacher Talk training in January partnering with Teacher Education Centres around the country. Invitations will be sent to settings with children receiving AIM support over the last 6 months. Courses will run in Cork City, Letterkenny, Dublin West, Louth, Kilkenny, Limerick, Galway, Kerry, Drumcondra, Mayo, Athlone, Wexford and Navan. Invitations will be sent out over the coming weeks.

Lámh trainings will also be offered, again partnering with the Teacher Education Centres across the country. Trainings are scheduled for January, February and March in Cork City, Tralee, Kilkenny, Galway, Drumcondra and Carrick on Shannon. Further trainings are scheduled for April to June in Athlone, Donegal, West Cork, Drumcondra, Limerick, Navan and Dublin West.

We will be prioritizing those services that have children attending their setting that are currently using Lámh. If you have children in your service that are Lámh users, please reach out to your Better Start Early Years Specialist regarding the trainings.

Please note that each staff member can only avail of a maximum of 18 hours of paid CPD training per calendar year. In the case where one staff member has already completed Hanen training (18 hours), they can attend Lámh training but will NOT be reimbursed. Payments will be made to the employer/ childcare setting and NOT to the individual.

Invites are sent directly to relevant services via Eventbrite and services will be offered up to 2 spaces for each course. The dates may coincide with some LINC training dates, as this will encourage take up and build capacity among other staff. Further info if required from: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Services should take their non-payable weeks into account when reviewing payments for all childcare programmes; any non-payable weeks occurring over the Christmas period will impact funding received.

ECCE

Please find details below of the ECCE Payment schedule and an update on registrations over Christmas:

· Weekly catch-up payments for ECCE will continue until Friday 21st December - this will be the last payment before Christmas.

· The first ECCE payment in 2019 is due on Monday 7th January and will cover a maximum of 5 payable weeks to 1st February 2019.

· ECCE Payments made on a Friday will cover registrations approved by close of business on the previous Monday.

CCS/P

Please find details below of the CCS/P Payment schedule over Christmas:

TEC

Please find details below of the TEC Payment schedule over Christmas:

If you have any queries please contact Pobal Online Support on 01-5117222, or your local City/County Childcare Committee.