DEFENCE FOR CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL (DCI) - Belgium | Practical Guide E. INTERVIEWS WITH STAFF It is very important to allow the staff members to speak and express their views in relation to their daily life, working conditions, relationships with the director, their colleagues and the children as well as their perception of the regime, the respect of children’s rights and any problems within the place of deprivation of liberty. If time allows, a discussion with representatives of trade-unions could be an additional source of information. With a view to building a constructive dialogue with the visited facility, it is useful to adopt such a horizontal approach which could be seen as cooperation rather than control. Any good practices must be highlighted and any suggestions of improvement duly taken into account. The contacts between monitors and staff members must remain professional at all times, especially in front of children, in order to avoid any kind of confusion regarding the nature of their relationship and any possible suspicion of collusion or partiality. It is important to define a clear selection process to identify which staff members will be interviewed in order to avoid interviewing staff that the director would trust to report only the good in the relevant facility. In addition, external service providers are another valuable source of information about the conditions and treatment of children in places where they are deprived of their liberty, and this can help to cross-check information collected from the other sources. Different categories of staff and external service providers that may be interviewed: ʺʺ security staff; ʺʺ educational staff; ʺʺ health care staff; ʺʺ social workers; ʺʺ psychological staff; ʺʺ civil society representatives active within the facility; ʺʺ lawyers; ʺʺ religious or philosophical representatives; ʺʺ etc. 80