Postgraduate Diploma in Child Protection and Welfare
This one-year, part-time, multi-disciplinary course offers a postgraduate qualification to practitioners and service managers whose work involves the protection and welfare of children. The course aims to enable experienced professionals to promote the development of family support and welfare services, and to respond to the needs of children at risk. A second year leading to M.Sc. is available to eligible candidates who have completed the Postgraduate Diploma with a 2.1 or better result.
| Course Code | DPDSW-CPWE-1P09 |
| Duration | 1 year part-time |
| Next Intake | September 2016 |
| Maximum Intake | 14 students |
| Applications | Closed |
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Those working at managerial or main grade levels in the following fields are eligible to apply: public health nursing, social work, psychology, child care, public health and general medicine, service planning, training; the criminal justice field, including probation and welfare and the Garda Siochana; child and adolescent psychiatry, youth and community work, family support services, education, services for those with a learning or physical disability, child and family law.
The course runs for one academic year, from late October to May. Students attend the university full-time for one week per month over nine consecutive months. It is also expected that the equivalent of one day per week in the participant's agency is spent on course-related work. The course carries 60 ECTS credits.
The programme consists of the following modules:
- Child Protection Perspectives and Practices
- Child Law
- Child Development
- Interventions with Children and Families
- Reserach Methods
- Contemporary Issues
In addition, seminars and workshops are held on areas of relevant and topical interest.
Click here for the 2014/2015 timetable
Competence is assessed on the basis of full attendance and four written assignments which includes a practice based project. Successful students are awarded the Postgraduate Diploma in Child Protection and Welfare of the University of Dublin, Trinity College.
This is the most important single element of the course in terms of student learning.
The exercise is designed to serve as a bridge between the college-based element of the course and the student's work. The student is required to carry innovative piece of work within their organisation, which can be either an evaluation of an existing service or development or a small piece of exploratory research on a topic relevant to the agency. It is hoped that this process may assist not only the learning of the student but also that of their colleagues, - thus the title 'demonstration practice'. This project is designed to exemplify the course's commitment to making a difference in the work place, that is, not risking the possibility of merely being an interesting academic course which fails to impinge on the 'real world'.
The Demonstration Practice exercise has a number of objectives:
- to extend the professional repertoire of the student
- to extend the capacity of the student's work team/organisation to respond to needs in the area of child protection and welfare
- to promote the processes of innovation and evaluation in the work of the student and that of his/her colleagues
- to familiarise the student with the practical steps involved in research and evaluation
- to encourage the writing up good work / practice
- to encourage the active dissemination of information about good practice within the student's organisation and more widely
The course is taught by members of the School of Social Work and Social Policy, and of other departments in the University. Practitioners, lecturers and policy makers with special expertise from both Ireland and abroad also contribute to teaching.
The programme is open to applications from qualified professionals from relevant disciplines who have three years post qualifying experience in an area related to child protection and welfare.
Applicants should normally have an upper second-class honors degree in one of the Social Sciences. Applications from graduates in other disciplines (e.g. health sciences, business studies) who have relevant experience will be considered.
For applicants whose first language is not English and who have not been educated through the medium of English please click here
Fees 2014/2015
E.U. €6,900
NON-E.U €11,055
The Postgraduate Diploma programme is sponsored by the Child and Family Support Agency (CFSA). Applicants from organisations that are funded by the CFSA are entitled to a one - third reduction in the full fee. The fee is normally adjusted on an annual basis and is payable by 30th September of the year in which the course commences. It covers full tuition fees, registration fee and capitation fee which permit students the use of the facilities of the college and of the societies and clubs.
Please Note: There is currently no Trinity awards for postgraduate students on taught courses but there may be limited funding from external sources. Please see here
Fees may be subject to change
Required Documentation
- Application Form completed online via my.tcd.ie
- 2 Reference Letters - applicants are not required to get two hard copy references. You must list two referee contact details on the online application form. An automated email will be sent to both referees asking them to complete a template and send it back. (It is preferable that references are either academic or professional)
- Official Transcripts - a transcript is a breakdown of the modules you completed and the grades you obtained. Please contact your University to request a transcript as soon as possible as some Universities can take up to 21 days to process transcripts. (This includes undergraduate transcripts and graduate transcripts if applicable)
- Curriculum Vitae
- Supplementary Form
Interview
Selection interviews take place following a review of the application and fourteen places are offered on the basis of interview.
Application Procedure
Applications are completed electronically via my.tcd.ie
Students who achieve a 2.1 standard in the Postgraduate Diploma year
will have the option of registering for a second year of study on the
M.Sc. in Child Protection and Welfare. The M.Sc. will be awarded on
successful completion of the Postgraduate Diploma course programme
in Year 1 and a 20,000 word dissertation in Year 2. Students on the
M.Sc in Child Protection and Welfare will have access to supervision
and a programme of seminars. Any candidate interested in the M.Sc.
option must register in the first instance for the Postgraduate Diploma
programme. Fees and study leave in year 2 are the responsibility of the
student and are not covered by the agreement between the college and
the HSE for the Postgraduate Diploma year.
Ms. Laura Cusack, Executive Officer
School of Social Work and Social Policy
Tel: +353 1 896 3593
Email: lcusack@tcd.ie
Dr Helen Buckley, Course Director
School of Social Work and Social Policy
Tel: +353 1 896 2065
Email: hbuckley@tcd.ie