The maternal assistant is the natural person, certified according to the law, employee of the general directorate of social assistance and child protection, who ensures at his or her home or, as appropriate, at his or her residence the upbringing, care, and education of the child during the special protective placement measure, placement in emergency regime for the child separated, temporarily or permanently, from his or her parents or, as appropriate, during the respite period of another maternal assistant. The conditions that must be fulfilled cumulatively by the person who wishes to become a maternal assistant are specified in Ordinance no. 27/01.08.2024 regarding the conditions for obtaining the certificate, the certification procedure, and the status of the maternal assistant.

The person who wishes to become a maternal assistant submits an evaluation request to the directorate in the county or, as appropriate, the sector of the municipality of Bucharest on the territory in which they have their domicile or, as appropriate, their residence. The application must obligatorily mention the number of children for whom the applicant considers he or she can simultaneously provide optimal conditions for upbringing, care, and education, namely one or two children, the age group, the availability to care for groups of siblings, children with disabilities, as well as the availability to take children in an emergency regime or during the respite period of another maternal assistant. The following documents must be compulsorily attached to the evaluation request: a) the applicant’s curriculum vitae; b) a copy, certified by the directorate or, as the case may be, by the applicant, of the identity card/bulletin, long-term residence permit or, as the case may be, permanent residence card of the applicant and, as the case may be, of each person with whom he or she lives; c) a copy, certified by the directorate or, as the case may be, by the applicant, of the applicant’s birth certificate and, as the case may be, of each person with whom he or she lives; d) a copy, certified by the directorate or, as the case may be, by the applicant, of the marriage certificate or divorce decision/divorce certificate, if applicable; e) a copy, certified by the directorate or, as the case may be, by the applicant, of his or her diploma; f) a copy, certified by the directorate or, as the case may be, by the applicant, of the property title or any other document attesting the right to use the dwelling; g) the judicial record certificate of the applicant and, as the case may be, of each person over 14 years of age with whom the applicant lives; h) the behavioral integrity certificate of the applicant and, as the case may be, of each adult person with whom he or she lives, obtained under the conditions of art. 16 of Law no. 118/2019 regarding the National Automated Register regarding persons who have committed sexual offences, exploitation of persons, or against minors, as well as for supplementing Law no. 76/2008 on the organization and operation of the National System of Judicial Genetic Data, with subsequent amendments; i) proof of income or other documents attesting the income of the applicant or, as the case may be, of at least one of the adult family members with whom he or she lives; j) a medical certificate issued by the family doctor regarding the health status of the applicant, stating that they do not suffer from communicable diseases, and, as the case may be, of each adult person with whom the applicant lives; k) a medical certificate issued by a specialist doctor stating that the applicant or, as the case may be, the adult persons with whom he or she lives do not suffer from mental illnesses; l) a declaration in authentic form on his or her own responsibility indicating that the applicant does not find themselves in one of the following situations:
-has been deprived of parental rights by a final court decision or has been prohibited from exercising parental rights, as an additional sentence;-
-has had or, as the case may be, has one or more biological children in the special protection system;-has consented to the adoption of their own child, except in cases where the child was adopted by the spouse; -had the maternal assistant certificate withdrawn, except where the certificate was withdrawn upon request.m) recommendations of the applicant's neighbors, relatives, other members of the community/social circle or, as the case may be, from representatives of the local public administration authorities, regarding the social behavior of the applicant and, as the case may be, of the family members with whom the applicant lives. The costs necessary to obtain all the documents that accompany the evaluation request are borne by the applicant. The evaluation request provided above is resolved within 90 calendar days from the date of registration with the directorate.The evaluation requested by the above-mentioned application is carried out by a team, designated by the management of the directorate, consisting of a psychologist and social worker, the latter usually also having the responsibility of drawing up the final report, and includes the following stages: the evaluation stage and the preparation stage. The evaluation stage includes in turn the social evaluation and the psychological evaluation, which are conducted over at least 4 meetings. The meetings carried out for the purpose of social and psychological evaluation take place at the applicant's home or at the headquarters of the directorate. Each member of the evaluation team is required to conduct at least one of the meetings for evaluation at the domicile or, as appropriate, the residence of the applicant.

After social evaluation and psychological evaluation in preparation for exercising the activity of maternal assistant, the applicant attends training courses. The training courses are not attended by applicants who are graduates of university studies in social work, psychology or education sciences.
Upon completion of the evaluation stages and preparation for carrying out the activity of maternal assistant, the members of the evaluation team draw up the final report of evaluation of the capacity to take care of the upbringing, care and education of a child or, as the case may be, of several children.

The final evaluation report is communicated to the applicant within 10 working days from its registration at the directorate, with confirmation of receipt, by mail or electronic mail, at the address indicated by the applicant.

The applicant who has received the report submits a request at the directorate headquarters of his or her domicile addressed to the child protection commission which will be resolved within 30 calendar days from the date of registration at the directorate. The maternal assistant certificate is issued for an indefinite period and is reviewed every two years based on the evaluation of the activity.​