The maternal assistant is the natural person, certified under the conditions of OG 27/ 01.08.2024, employed by the General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection, who provides at his/her domicile or, as the case may be, at his/her residence the upbringing, care, and education of the child during the period of applying the special protection measure of placement, emergency placement for the separated child, temporarily or permanently, from his/her parents or, as the case may be, during the respite period of another maternal assistant.

The person who cumulatively meets the following conditions can be certified as a maternal assistant:

a) has reached the age of 21;

b) has graduated from professional or high school education;

c) through his/her behavior in society and psychological profile, provides moral guarantees regarding the upbringing, care, and education of children;

d) the person and their spouse show emotional availability in relationships with children, confirmed following psychological evaluation;

e) the spouse and children who have reached the age of 14 and who share the same domicile or, as the case may be, the same residence as the applicant, express their consent regarding receiving one or more children into the family;

f) has domicile or, as the case may be, residence in a locality with access to educational and medical services for the child/children to be placed and, as the case may be, to habilitation/rehabilitation services for the child with disabilities;

g) has right of use over a dwelling that adequately covers the needs for food preparation, hygiene, education, and rest of its users, including those of the child/children to be placed and for whom individual space for rest and homework can be provided;

h) at least one of the adult family members earns income, excepting the applicant if he/she lives with one or more members.

A person cannot be a maternal assistant if he/she is in the following situations:

a) has exceeded the standard retirement age provided by Law no. 360/2023 regarding the public pension system;

b) has been convicted by a final court decision for intentionally committing an offense against the person, against authority, against the administration of justice, for preference or corruption offenses, as well as for drug trafficking offenses, regarding the regime of doping substances, for conducting illegal operations with precursors or with other products likely to have psychoactive effects or is registered with notes in the National Automated Register regarding persons who have committed sexual offenses, exploitation of persons or minors;

c) has family members who have reached the age of 14 or other persons living with him/her who have been convicted by a final court decision for an offense from the categories provided in letter b) or are registered with notes in the National Automated Register regarding persons who have committed sexual offenses, exploitation of persons or minors;

d) has been deprived of parental rights by a final court decision or has been prohibited from exercising parental rights as a complementary punishment;

e) suffers from communicable diseases that could endanger the child's health;

f) has family members or other adults living with him/her, who suffer from communicable diseases that could endanger the child's health;

g) has a history of violence for which a provisional protection order or, as the case may be, a protection order was issued, according to the provisions of Law no. 217/2003 for the prevention and combating of domestic violence, republished, with subsequent amendments and completions, or according to the provisions of Law no. 26/2024 regarding protection orders, or has family members or other adults living with him/her for whom the mentioned orders have been issued;

h) has or, as the case may be, has had one or more biological children in the special protection system;

i) has consented to the adoption of his/her own child, except where the child was adopted by the spouse;

j) suffers from mental illnesses, is addicted to alcohol, drugs or other psychotropic substances, confirmed by medical certificates issued by a specialist doctor;

k) has family members or other adults living with him/her, who suffer from mental illnesses, are addicted to alcohol, drugs or other psychotropic substances, confirmed by medical certificates issued by a specialist doctor;

l) has had the maternal assistant certificate withdrawn, except where the certificate was withdrawn at his/her request.

The assessment requested through the application provided in art. 5 is carried out by a team appointed by the management of the directorate, consisting of a psychologist and a social worker, the latter usually also having the responsibility of drawing up the final report, and includes the following stages: a) social assessment; b) psychological assessment.

After the social assessment and psychological assessment provided in art. 6, for the purpose of preparing for the activity of maternal assistant, the applicant attends the training courses provided in art. 13. The training courses are not attended by applicants who have graduated from university studies in social assistance, psychology, or education sciences.

After completing the assessment stages provided in art. 6 and the preparation for the activity of maternal assistant provided in art. 7, the members of the assessment team draw up the final report assessing the capacity to care for, raise and educate a child or, as the case may be, several children.

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