Procedure Description

The professional foster carer is a natural person, certified under the conditions of Government Ordinance no. 27/01.08.2024, employed by the general directorate of social assistance and child protection, who ensures the upbringing, care, and education of the child at their own home or, as the case may be, at their residence during the period of application of the special protection measure of placement, emergency placement for the child separated, temporarily or permanently, from their parents or, as appropriate, during the respite period of another professional foster carer.

May be certified as a professional foster carer the person who cumulatively fulfills the following conditions:
a) is at least 21 years old;
b) has graduated from vocational or high school education;
c) by their behavior in society and psychological profile provides moral guarantees regarding the upbringing, care, and education of children;
d) the person and the spouse exhibit affective availability in their relationships with children, confirmed after 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 with the applicant, express their consent regarding the reception of a child/children into the family;
f) has domicile or, as the case may be, residence in a locality with access to educational, medical services for the child/children to be received into placement and, as the case may be, habilitation/rehabilitation services for the child with disabilities;
g) has the right of use over a dwelling that properly covers the needs for food preparation, hygiene, education, and rest for its users, including those of the child/children who are to be received into placement and for whom individualized space for rest and homework can be ensured;
h) at least one of the adult family members realizes income, except the applicant if they live with one or more members.

Cannot be a professional foster carer the person in the following situations:
a) has exceeded the standard retirement age provided by Law no. 360/2023 regarding the public pension system;
b) has suffered a conviction by final court decision, for intentional commission of an offense against the person, against authority, against the administration of justice, of corruption and service, as well as for drug trafficking offenses, regarding the regime of doping substances, for performing illegal operations with precursors or other products likely to have psychoactive effects, or is registered with mentions in the National Automated Register regarding persons who have committed sexual offenses, exploitation of persons or of minors;
c) has in the family members who have reached the age of 14 or other persons, who live together with them, who have been convicted by final court decision for an offense from the category provided in b) or are registered with mentions in the National Automated Register regarding persons who have committed sexual offenses, exploitation of persons or of minors;
d) has been deprived of parental rights by final court decision or has been prohibited from exercising parental rights as a complementary punishment;
e) suffers from communicable diseases that could endanger the health of the child;
f) has in the family members or other adults living with them who suffer from communicable diseases that could endanger the health of the child;
g) has a history of violence for which a provisional protection order or, as appropriate, protection order has been issued, according to the provisions of Law no. 217/2003 on the prevention and combat of domestic violence, republished, with subsequent amendments and completions, or according to the provisions of Law no. 26/2024 regarding the protection order, or has in the family members or other adult persons living with them for whom such orders have been issued;
h) has had or, as the case may be, has one or more biological children in the special protection system;
i) has consented to the adoption of their own child, except in the case where the child was adopted by the spouse;
j) suffers from mental illness, is dependent on alcohol, drugs, or other psychotropic substances, confirmed by medical certificates issued by a specialist doctor;
k) has in the family members or other adults living with them who suffer from mental illness, are dependent on alcohol, drugs or other psychotropic substances, confirmed by medical certificates issued by a specialist doctor;
l) had the professional foster carer certificate withdrawn, except when it was withdrawn at their request.

Persons with domicile in Harghita County who are interested in becoming a professional foster carer will submit an application for the assessment of their capacity to become a professional foster carer at the headquarters of the General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection.
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In the content of the application, it is mandatory to specify the number of children for whom the applicant considers they can simultaneously provide optimal conditions for upbringing, care, and education, namely one or two children, age group, availability to care for sibling groups, children with disabilities, as well as availability to receive children in emergency or during the respite period of another foster carer.
The following documents must be compulsorily attached to the assessment application:
a) applicant's curriculum vitae;
b) copy, certified by the directorate, of the applicant's identity card, long-term residence permit or, as the case may be, permanent residence card and, as the case may be, of each person living with them;
c) copy, certified by the directorate, of the applicant's birth certificate and, as the case may be, of each person living with them;
d) copy, certified by the directorate, of marriage certificate or divorce decision/divorce certificate, if applicable;
e) copy, certified by the directorate, of their education diploma;
f) copy, certified by the directorate, of the ownership title or any other document attesting the right to use the dwelling;
g) criminal record certificate of the applicant and, as appropriate, of each person who has reached the age of 14 living with them;
h) behavioral integrity certificate of the applicant and, as the case may be, of each adult living with them, obtained under the conditions of art. 16 of Law no. 118/2019 on the National Automated Register regarding persons who have committed sexual offenses, exploitation of persons or of minors, as well as for supplementing Law no. 76/2008 regarding the organization and functioning of the National Judicial Genetic Data System, with subsequent amendments;
i) income certificate or other documents attesting the income of the applicant or, as the case may be, of at least one of the adult family members living with them;
j) medical certificate issued by the family doctor regarding the applicant's health, indicating that they do not suffer from communicable diseases, and, as the case may be, for each adult living with them;
k) medical certificate issued by a specialist doctor stating that the applicant or, as the case may be, the adult persons living with them, do not suffer from mental illness;
l) authenticated declaration on their own responsibility certifying that the applicant is not in one of the situations provided in art. 4 letter d), h), i), and l) of Government Ordinance no. 27/01.08.2024;
m) recommendations from neighbors, relatives of the applicant, other members of the community/people from their social circle or, as appropriate, from representatives of local public administration authorities, regarding the social behavior of the applicant and, as the case may be, of family members with whom they live.
The costs necessary to obtain all documents accompanying the assessment application are borne by the applicant.

The assessment application provided will be solved within 90 calendar days from the date of registration at the directorate

The assessment requested through the application is carried out by a team within the directorate consisting of a psychologist and a social worker, the latter usually being responsible for preparing the final report, and includes the following stages:
a) social assessment;
b) psychological assessment.
After the social assessment and psychological assessment, in preparation for the exercise of the activity of professional foster carer, the applicant participates in training courses. The training courses are not attended by the applicant who is a graduate of university studies in the field of social work, psychology or educational sciences.
After completing the assessment stages and preparation for carrying out the activity of professional foster carer, the members of the evaluation team prepare the final report on the capacity to take care of the upbringing, care, and education of a child or, as the case may be, several children.
The applicant who has received the report proposing the issuance of the certificate submits to the directorate a request addressed to the child protection commission to request the issuance of the professional foster carer certificate, which is resolved within 30 calendar days from the date of registration at the directorate.
The child protection commission, after analyzing the final report presented by one of the evaluation team members and hearing the applicant, pronounces through a motivated decision on the admission or, as the case may be, rejection of the request for issuance of the certificate as a professional foster carer.

The certificate for professional foster carer is an annex to the decision of the child protection commission.
The certificate of professional foster carer is issued for an indefinite period and is approved every two years based on an evaluation conducted by a team consisting of a social worker and a psychologist.

Appeal paths

A person who considers themselves wronged by the response received from DGASPC Harghita may apply to the administrative litigation court pursuant to Law no. 54/2004.

Contact details

Miercurea Ciuc, str. Libertății, no. 5, County: Harghita, Postal code: 530140

Phone: 0266207769 ; 0733553068

Fax: 0266/207754

​E-mail: office@dgaspchr.ro
Website: www.dgaspchr.ro

Links register

Responsible institution

General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection Harghita,

Harghita County

Provision method

National

Resolution time

90 calendar days

Archiving period

30 years

File completion deadline

15 calendar days

Notification upon expiry of resolution time

15 calendar days

Required documents

Final documents

Normative acts