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By Rachel Lawler

The Department for Education has released for childminders who wish to host people from Ukraine under the Homes for Ukraine or Ukraine Family Schemes.

The two schemes offer households in UK a chance to offer spare rooms in their homes for people fleeing their homes in Ukraine.

The guidance clarifies that where childminders are hosting people from Ukraine on premises where childminding takes place:

• The DfE recommends that childminders who cannot speak to the person/people from Ukraine that they are hosting before they arrive, they should not apply to be hosts. This is because documents to check criminal records from Ukraine are currently unavailable, which will prevent Ofsted/childminder agencies from completing the legally-required checks.
   
• If childminders can speak to the person/people from Ukraine that they will be hosting because they know them personally or have been put in contact with them via an intermediary, they should discuss with them beforehand that they may be required to move out of the home if Ofsted/childminding agency isn’t able to complete the necessary checks.

The guidance also states that childminders who host a family or individual from Ukraine on the premises where childminding takes place should remember that they cannot allow people whose suitability has not been checked to have unsupervised contact with any children being cared for.

If childminders wish to host people from Ukraine on premises where childminding does not take place, such as in a separate annexe, there is no requirement for Ofsted/childminding agencies to complete checks on the people who will be living there.

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