Streetline is committed to maintaining the highest standards of Corporate Governance. We believe that setting and maintaining these high standards is a key element in demonstrating accountability to all stakeholders, funders and supporters. It also ensures that we continue to provide the highest quality service to those in our care.
Corporate Governance Structures:
Our Board comprises of 4 directors with backgrounds in architecture, law, social inclusion, social justice, housing and education. All directors are voluntary and receive no remuneration. Streetline have enjoyed the support of Fr Peter McVerry over the past 20 years and latterly the CEO of the McVerry Trust, Pat Doyle who is also a director.
The Board meets a minimum of 8 times per year and has its AGM annually in February of each year. It has overall responsibility to ensure that the governance of the organization is in line with best practice and that all operational functions meet all requirements under current legislation, charitable and company law and health and safety standards.
Streetline is currently working towards full compliance with: The Governance Code for the Community, Voluntary and Charitable Sectors in Ireland.
Accordingly, the Board mandates the manager to bring before it an annual health and safety statement and annual risk audit for its approval and to carry out regular reviews of all policies and procedures.
The manager reports directly to the Board on a regular basis. These are;
- Report on Streetline projects including: under 18, Aftercare and Cluid
- Fundraising requirement
- Human Resources
- Finance
- Building maintenance needs
- Health and Safety
- Compliance with Corporate Governance
Streetline in actively recruiting members to the Board of Management to assist with fundraising, public relations, governance compliance, service development and expansion.
Accounts and Audits:
The Board views the financial governance of Streetline as one of its central functions. Currently all our funding comes from TUSLA which is the state body responsible for children in care. Audited accounts are available which reflects how our income and expenditure is tightly controlled and transparent. Streetline avail of Wheel (Wheel.ie) training and advice re: governance and codes of practices in relation to corporate and voluntary sector compliance.
Streetline publishes its accounts on an annual basis (see below for 2012 accounts) and makes annual returns to the Company Registration Office (CRO). The charity’s accounts and financial reports also comply with the principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting legal requirements in Ireland. Streetline do not receive funding to employ personnel for fundraising however the staff team, manager and Board of Management have made gallant efforts to raise money for various needs which TULSA funding does not cover. For example grinds, transport and house maintenance.
Streetline is hoping to expand our fundraising capacity and in doing so ensuring that we comply with the Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising created by the organization Irish Charities Tax Research ICTR.
The Board of Directors have appointed Donal Ryan and Associates, 34 Manor Street, Dublin 7 as auditors of Streetline for 2014 and 2015.
As part of our Service Arrangement with TUSLA, Streetline annually submit audited accounts, tax clearance cert, insurance details, staff levels and salaries, memorandum of articles and most recent Inspection Report.
Streetline is a company limited by guarantee Registration Number 174920 and a registered charity CHY10577.
Registration and Inspection Service:
Streetline is regularly inspected by; The Registration & Inspection Service with the Child and Family Agency (formerly the HSE) is a regional service that acts as an autonomous agent of the Child and Family Agency. The service established in 1998 was created under legislation purveyed by the 1991 Child Care Act, to fulfil two regulatory functions on behalf of the aforementioned Child and Family Agency:
1. To establish and maintain a register of children’s residential centres in its functional area (see Part VIII, Article 61 (1)). A children’s centre being defined by Part VIII, Article 59, and amended by the 2001 Children’s Act,
Part XIII, Article 267.
2. To inspect premises in which centres are being carried on or are proposed to be carried on and otherwise for the enforcement and execution of the regulations by the appropriate officers as per the relevant framework formulated by the minister for Health and Children to ensure proper standards and conduct of centres (see part VIII, Article 63, (1)-(3)). The
Child Care (Placement of Children in Residential Care) Regulations 1995 & The Child Care (Standards in Children’s Residential Centres) 1996.
The service is committed to carry out its duties in an even handed, fair and rigorous manner. The inspection of centres is carried out to safeguard the wellbeing and interests of children and young people living in them.
The Department of Health and Children’s “National Standards for Children’s
Residential Centres” document provides the framework against which inspections are carried out and provides the criteria against which centres structures and care practices are examined.
The last inspection was done in May 2014 and a full report is available below. Streetline also measures itself against Children First legislation and Putting People First Standards.
Salaries:
James Halpin and Derek Shortall founded the charity Streetline 20 years ago. None of the Directors receive a salary, expenses or allowances, nor ever have, for their continued contribution to the work of Streetline. .
The Manager, together with a team of 10 staff salaries are in line with TULSA pay scales. However, to survive server funding reductions over the past few years, all staff accepted voluntary pay cuts in 2007, 2008 and 2009 to 3 point lower than their grade in addition to accepting a pay freeze since 2007. This decision was taken as the team did not want any funding cuts to unnecessarily impact the young people in our care.
There are no top ups paid to any staff member on the team and the salary scales range from €29.993 social care worker (scale 1) to €57.728 Manager (scale 3) inclusive. Streetline have retained a strong staff team over the past 15 years with the average length of service being 12 years.
Shared Housing Model:
Streetline have developed a unique Aftercare service for young people leaving care. Since opening to doors to Next Door (aftercare residential project) this model has proved to be an effective service for your young people moving toward adulthood. Like many peers, the young people move into a shared house, with various support to nature them towards adulthood as active participants of society through education and employment.
Inter-agency Model of Working – YPAR (Young People at Risk) :
Streetline is an active member of YPAR since its beginnings in 2003. Young People at Risk (YPAR) initiative is located in the North East Inner City (NEIC) of Dublin, which experiences some of the highest levels of deprivation and marginalisation in the city.
Dublin’s North Inner City is a community with a long history of social and economic disadvantage but also with a strong history of community responses to this disadvantage. These community responses have been based on strong local leadership but have also involved asking the state to be involved as a partner with the community.
The area has a very strong culture of community development and advocacy on key policy issues which is led by the Inner City Organisations Network (ICON) which represents 65 local community and voluntary organizations. During the 1990’s Inner City Organisations Network highlighted the need for more integration between state and voluntary agencies in the areas of dealing with young people at risk.
In 2000 ICON brought together a group comprising members of voluntary, statutory and community organisations that work with young people at risk. The group aimed to promote integrated, high quality, effective and co operation to address the needs of young people at risk.
Cluid Housing:
Cluid Housing allocated a 2 bed room apartment to Streetline in 2003 as part of Aftercare provision. However, this apartment in currently being used by YPAR and is an example of how a community of small organizations can come together to achieve something no organization can do singly handed. The apartment has being used to accommodate and support 3 young woman who are ‘unaccompanied minor’ care leavers. All three young women will have degrees in: Business (2016), Applied Psychology (2016) and Social Care (2016).
Below are two PDF documents to support Corporate Governance:
Streetline_tax cert
Streetline Signed Scanned Accounts