Children’s Team Safety Checking Employer Endorsement
Form
To be completed by employer of Children’s Team participant
Guidance

It is Children’s Team policy that people who will be undertaking a role within the Children’s
Team need to be safety checked by their employer to the standard set out in the Vulnerable
Children (Requirements for Safety Checks) Regulations 2015 (the VCA regulatory standard).

The policy requires the employer (or another appropriate organisation) to complete the
attached Children’s Team Safety Checking Employer Endorsement Form. The form seeks
confirmation that checks to the VCA regulatory standard have been completed and
endorsement that the person is suitable to the part of the Children’s Team workforce.

This policy applies to:
o
All members of the Local Governance Group.
o
All Children’s Team Panel members, Service Brokers, and Lead Professionals, and all
roles appointed by the Children’s Team Director and/or the Children’s Action Plan
Directorate.
o
Members of the Child’s Action Network where they are named in the Child’s Plan and
will have access to shared personal information about the child; or if the Children’s
Team Director believes there is a reasonable justification for doing so; or if they will have
access to individual case files within the Vulnerable Kids Information System (ViKI).

This requirement applies to all workers in these roles, even if they would otherwise not be
subject to the Vulnerable Children Act 2014 (e.g., because they are a volunteer).

Where these checks have not been completed, are not current, or the employer’s records are
not of sufficient detail to allow for confirmation, it is the employer’s responsibility to update the
checks prior to completing the endorsement section of the application form.

In addition, employers are required to make sure that the safety check of workers participating
in the Children’s Team are updated at least every three years following the completion of each
check.

The declaration box contains a field to record the date the safety check was completed.

Employers should also ensure that workers they are endorsing have also completed the relevant
consents in the Children’s Team Safety Checking Participant Form.

Once the forms are completed, they are to be returned to the Children’s Team. All applicant
information will be held securely by the Children’s Team Director in accordance with the Privacy
Act 1993.

The Children’s Team Directors are responsible for ensuring that children’s workers participating
in the Children’s Teams are safe and suitable, including making determinations based on the
information they receive (e.g., from Children’s Team Participant form for Lead Professionals, or
confirmation forms provided by employers). They may contact you to discuss concerns or
Children’s Team Safety Checking Employer Endorsement Form v 1.1 October 2015
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queries they have relating to the participant’s suitability or the results of a safety check.

Information about the VCA regulatory standard is available at: www.childrensactionplan.govt.nz.
A summary of the required checking is reproduced on this form.
The workforce restriction

From 1 July 2015, the Vulnerable Children Act 2014 (the Act) also introduces a new children’s
workforce restriction, which prohibits certain organisations from employing or engaging people
with certain serious criminal convictions as core workers, unless they hold a Core Worker
Exemption.

The convictions (which involve offences against children and/or violent behaviour, for example,
ill-treatment or neglect of a child and sexual offending) are specified in Schedule 2 of the Act.

Individuals prohibited from being employed or engaged in a core worker role under the
workforce restriction can apply for a Core Worker Exemption.

Please advise the Children’s Team Director if you believe your employee may be subject to the
workforce restriction.
More information

If you would like to know more about strengthening safety checks in your agency, please contact
the Children’s Team Director. They will be able to provide you with information and support to
enable you to review your agency’s current practice and develop a plan to strengthen your
processes.

For any general queries, please see www.childrensactionplan.govt.nz or email us at
admin@childrensactionplan.govt.nz.

For queries about the workforce restriction and the core worker exemption please email us at
Core_Worker_Exemption@msd.govt.nz.
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Summary of the VCA regulatory standard

The safety checking requirements are described in the Vulnerable Children (Requirements for
Safety Checks of Children’s Workers) Regulations 2015.

A supporting document, available on www.childrensactionplan.govt.nz provides advice to help
interpret and apply the regulations: Children’s worker safety checking under the Vulnerable
Children Act 2014.

For those who will be working with Children’s Teams, their employers will need to do the
following checks (also known as the “existing children’s worker” requirements):
o
Confirming identity. This can be done using a Verified RealMe account (see
http://www.realme.govt.nz for more information), or by checking two forms of identity
documentation. One of these identity documents must be a primary identity document
(for example, a New Zealand Passport or Birth Certificate). If the documents are not
photographic, or if the person has changed their name, they will also need to provide
further evidence of identity. As a final precaution, your organisation must also search its
personnel records to make sure that no one else has claimed that identity.
o
Professional membership. You will need to establish whether the person has a relevant
membership, license or registration, and to seek information about the candidate from
at least one of these issuing bodies to assess whether the person poses any risk to the
safety of children if employed or engaged as a children’s worker. Confirming that their
membership, registration or license is current is one way to meet this requirement.
o
A police vet. You need to obtain a Police vet from the New Zealand Police Vetting
Service. There are two exceptions to this requirement:
o


You have obtained a police vet for the person within the previous three years; or

You have confirmed that the person has a current professional membership,
registration or license, where at least three-yearly Police vetting is a condition of
holding that membership, registration or license.
Risk assessment. For all children’s workers you need to use the information gathered,
along with any risk assessment guidelines that may have been issued for providers in
your sector, to assess whether the person poses any risk to the safety of children.
In addition to confirming that these checks have been completed, the employer will need to
provide the date when this was done, and ensure that the checks are updated as required every
three years.
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Children’s Team Safety Checking Employer Endorsement
Form
To be completed by employer of Children’s Team participant
Organisation details
Name of Organisation
Name of person endorsing
this form
Telephone (work and mobile)
Details of employee, volunteer or contractor participating in Children’s Team
Title
First Name
Surname
Other names known by
Position held in organisation
Length of time with employer
Children’s Team site and role
Confirmation of checks required for an existing children’s worker
1
Verify the identity of the children’s worker.
This can be done by either using a Verified RealMe account (see www.realme.govt.nz for more
information), or by checking two forms of identity documentation.

One of these identity documents must be a primary identity document (for example, a New
Zealand Passport or Birth Certificate). If the documents are not photographic, or if the person
has changed their name, they will also need to provide further evidence of identity. As a final
precaution, your organisation must also search its personnel records to make sure that no one
else has claimed that identity.
2
Establish whether the person has a relevant membership, license or registration, and seek
information about the candidate from at least one of these issuing bodies to assess whether
the person poses any risk to the safety of children if employed or engaged as a children’s
worker.
Note: Confirming that their membership, registration or license is current is one way to meet
this requirement.
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
3
Obtain and consider information from a Police vet, unless at least 3-yearly Police vetting is a
condition of holding professional registration or a practicing certificate (and that registration or
certificate is current), or a Police vet has been completed within the previous 3 years.

4
Evaluate the above information to assess the risk the person would poses or would pose any
risk to the safety of children if employed or engaged as a children’s worker, including
categorisation of the role as ‘core’ or ‘non-core’.

If you have not ticked one or more of these confirmation of checks, please provide an explanation below:
Employers Declaration and Signature
I declare that I have reviewed the safety checking information that we hold on
………………………………………………… (participant’s name) and have confirmed that a check that complies with
the standard described in the Vulnerable Children (Requirements for Safety Checks) Regulations 2015 was
completed on …………………….(date) and is due for rechecking before the day three years after this date.
Based on the information from the safety checking process and my professional judgement, I recommend
…………………………………………(participant’s name) as suitable to become a member of the Children’s Team
workforce.
AND/OR
The following are matters I wish to draw to your attention.
Signed
Date
Name………………………………………………………….
Position ………………………………………………………
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