DBS checks for Childcare & Foster Care Providers

DBS Checks are an essential tool for childcare and foster care organisations. Children are amongst the most vulnerable members of our society. Due to their age and experience, they are rarely able to protect themselves so preventing exposure to harm is vital for those charged with their care. DBS Checks provide the information needed to identify harmful individuals and recruit safely. Safe recruitment helps contribute to a protected environment where children and young people can feel nurtured and secure.

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Childcare Providers

Any person working directly with children or running a childcare service must have an Enhanced DBS Check. This level of DBS Check shows an individual's full criminal record history. This includes cautions, warnings, reprimands, spent and unspent convictions, a search of the Children’s Barred List, and any relevant notes from the police.

If you’re a childminder or care provider running a service from your own home, any residents or regular visitors over the age of 16 must also be subject to an Enhanced DBS Check to be compliant with government regulations. This could include partners, cleaners, housemates, lodgers or older children.

Foster Care Agencies & Organisations

When it comes to DBS Checks, fostering falls under the same classification of ‘regulated activity’ as childcare. This means anyone responsible for fostering a child must have an Enhanced DBS Check completed. Any other resident or regular visitor of a foster carer’s home must also be subject to the Enhanced DBS Check.

Fostering services have a statutory obligation to carry out Enhanced DBS Checks on any staff member or foster carer that is carrying out regulated activity. Some staff members, such as administrative or auxiliary staff, may not require this level of check.

Eligibility Criteria

Anyone carrying out regulated activity with children must have an Enhanced DBS Check carried out along with a search of the Children’s Barred List. However, it can sometimes be hard to determine whether your staff members meet the eligibility criteria for this level of check. This is particularly true of administrative or auxiliary staff. While they may be dealing with children or young people in some capacity it may not be enough to be classed as regulated activity.

Confirming whether someone meets eligibility criteria can be a complex task, which is why we’ve got experts on hand who can discuss it with you. If you need some advice on what DBS Checks you need, click the button below to request a callback. Alternatively, you can give us a call on 01254 355659.

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DOWNLOAD OUR LATEST EBOOK ON how to set up an ofsted compliant dbs check process as a childcare provider

In this guide, we will break down the complicated information surrounding DBS Checks and how to ensure that your DBS checking process is fully compliant.

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Why Personnel Checks

Personnel Checks support both small and large-scale childcare and fostering operations. From independent nurseries through to childcare franchises and national fostering organisations we have the experience to support your screening needs whatever your requirements. Processing background checks for nearly two decades, we have one of the lowest error rates and fastest turnaround times of any screening business in the UK. With Personnel Checks you can be confident that you have the information you need to protect those under your care and supervision.

If you’re ready to join the community of thousands, that already trust us with their DBS Checks, get in touch! Click the button below to request a callback or feel free to give us a call on 01254 355659 for a no-obligation consultation with an account manager.

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Frequently asked questions

DBS Checks only search against UK records. This means if you or a member of staff has only lived in the UK for a short amount of time, the DBS Check won’t necessarily show any relevant information.

We would always recommend carrying out additional checks on any childcare or foster care applications who have lived outside of the UK in the past 5 years.
There are generally two options here: Certificates of Good Conduct or International Criminal Record Checks. Certificates of Good Conduct are applied for directly with a countries embassy and are similar to a Basic DBS Check.

International Criminal Record Checks tend to be more costly but provide comprehensive data regarding an individual.
For most private arrangements of childcare, parents or guardians are unable to carry out a DBS Check.

This is because DBS Checks are in place to ensure organisations can make safe recruitment decisions on potential employees. Childcare providers are responsible for sourcing DBS Checks, whether they are a large organisation or an independent provider.
In most cases, Nanny’s and other private household staff can often be DBS Checked via a local authority or in some instances a recruitment agency.

When registering with Ofsted it is important to do so as soon as you have received your DBS Certificate. Ofsted will only accept DBS Certificates that have been issued within the past 3 months.
If your certificate was issued outside of this time, and you don’t have a valid DBS Update Service subscription, you would need to complete a new DBS Check.
You can find out more about the Update Service below.
No. Signing up to the DBS Update Service is entirely optional, however, it is something we would strongly recommend.
For £13 a year, DBS certificates can be registered to the Update Service. The Disclosure and Barring Service then keep this updated with any information. Certificate holders are provided with a code that they can share with employers to view their information. It is vital that the original DBS Certificate is kept as an Update Service subscription is invalid without it.
You can find out more about how to sign up for the Update Service here.
The cost of a DBS Check varies depending on which level of check is being applied for. Our list prices are:
Basic DBS Check: £43.10
Standard DBS Check: £52.20
Enhanced DBS Check: £75.90
Volunteer DBS Check: £26.40
What you see is what you get. We have no hidden fees and we don’t charge extra for ‘fast-track’ services that don’t exist.
Prices include VAT.