Can you be a childminder with a criminal record?

[Toopsy85]

hi all, hope you can help.

I am interested in becoming a childminder however I have criminal convictions from when I was younger (over 10 years ago). I know that you can still apply to ofsted and explain the situation but they may still decline, however due to my particular offences I wanted to ask how likely it is for me to be accepted as I would hate to complete all the pre registration training, to be declined.

Please don't judge as I am a totally different person now, wasn't a bad person then but got 'in with the wrong crowd' for a few months when I was 19 and this is when offences took place.

Convictions -
Possession of class a drug (cocaine, small amount)
Affray - offence not as bad as it sounds but resulted in this conviction due to number of people involved and being in a public place (town centre at night after nightclubs close)

Also, on the off chance of being accepted, would I need to declare these to all potential parents?

Would you use a childminder with convictions?

I know I was in the wrong but these convictions do haunt for life!

www.gov.uk/government/publications/applying-to-waive-disqualification-early-years-and-childcare-providers

Read that factsheet and then email using the email address in that document, asking if your convictions (list the convictions with the date on which it happened, include as much info as you can about the offence) would automatically disqualify you or if you could apply for a wavier.

The affray conviction would be concerning if it involved any child (such as a teenager who was not classed as an adult).

Great thank you for the link that was really helpful. I'll send them and email and see what they say.

No didn't involve any children I was about 19 and everyone else similar age, was a bit of a drunken brawl, not excusing my behaviour but my part was minimal but we all got the same charge due to it being a public place

Thanks for your help tho

sorry but I afraid I wouldn't want to use you for childcare with a criminal record of affray and drug use. other things I would maybe over look but these would be huge red flags for me.

would you be disclosing this information to prospective parents? I would be livid to find out at a later date

sorry, but am beong honest

I wouldn't care what my childminder was doing 10 years ago during her wild nights .I was myself not an angel and would hate to be judge on that.

And I think that if Ofsted think someone is fit to work as a childminder, they shouldn't have to tell the parents about it. Ofsted is strict enough.

You never know what your childminder was up to when she was 18/19 years old. Because she wasn't arrested doesn't mean that she wasn't drunk/doing cocaine/showing her butt to everyone every Friday night ten years ago.

I don't think ofsted, or anyone for that matter could make you tell prospective parents, if ofsted cleared you to work then that's it.

I also believe that just because you were caught for your wrong doings, there are many people, possibly even the parents of the children you hope to look after, who have done the same but never got aprehended by the police, so no it wouldn't put me off if I liked you and my child liked you!!

I wouldn't want to use a childminder convicted of those particular offences I'm afraid. Don't know if Ofsted will OK this. The drug issue is bad IMHO.

Thanks for your replies everyone, a bit of a mixed bag.

No offence taken at all to those that said you wouldn't use, I wanted To know honestly so thanks for being honest :)

I'm not sure if I would disclose tbh, I agree that it's probably best to as agree parents could go mad if they were to find out, but at the same time if ofsted accept me and think I'm suitable to care for children, shouldn't that be enough?

I'm worried that if I tell every prospective parent, they won't use as let's face it there's plenty of childminders out there and they may decide not to use me due to this.

That would then be all the training down the pan

Obviously I won't mention names buy someone was approved by ofsted for class a drugs and the offence was more recently - they just had to answer some questions and explain the situation and ofsted were obviously happy as they cleared the person just the affray that may be more questionable.

I don't think you're under any moral obligation to tell parents about your past.

Can they ask to see a copy of your DBS check though? And it won't it show up on there?

It wouldn't bother me personally. I think if you wrote off anyone who had tried drugs as a teenager or been involved in a scuffle you'd be writing off the majority of the population.

it wont show up on DBS. its been a couple of years now but when I volunteered in the nursery near me I had a record (shoplifting, even though it wasnt me, I was guilty by association, now spent so no longer there technically) they never mentioned it once and were quite happy with my work. although I was not so happy with them but thats another story

My nanny has a criminal record from when she was a teenager and I still employed her - we discussed it and it was a long time ago. I did however take up more references than I would have done otherwise, including from the person who requested the CRB.

fatty - they do usually show up. Your conviction may have been deleted prior to 2006, when juvenile convictions were often deleted after a period of time (this no longer happens).

OP - Im afraid I wouldn't use a childcarer with any form of criminal record.

One of the best CMs I know has a criminal record from their teenage years.

sadly karoleann I am sure you have used someone with some form of criminal record as driving offeces come under that remit and I know loads of childminders, primary teachers and nursery staff that have gotten speeding convictions (which count as a crimanal record) but you would not know about them because they are totatlly not relivent tho the affray possible is sadly do not have to notify you about them

I would avoid a childminder that had convictions for drugs/violence in all honesty. The fact that it happened a long time ago is irrelevant I'm afraid.

It wouldn't put me off at all. Some of the most professional people I know (doctors/lawyers/teachers etc) were up to much worse than that when they were at university- they were just lucky that they never got caught! We all do things when we're young and stupid that we aren't proud of when we're 'grown up'!

worried - it depends (DBS advice)

Do I need to disclose motoring offences when applying for a DBS?
Motoring offences are criminal offences and they form part of your criminal record, depending on the disposal you received. If you have received an endorsement for an offence under Schedule 2 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, then this may become ‘spent’ 5 years after date of conviction (2 ½ years if under 18 when convicted) If you received an FPN for a minor motoring offence and you paid it on time, it will not form part of your criminal record and will not need to be disclosed (see here for more details).

I'd be less worried about these if they're not driving my children around. I always ask to see both sections of a driving licence for any nannies I employ or au pairs we host. I also have a clause in both contracts that their employment/hosting would be immediately terminated if they had a driving conviction.

I had a speeding conviction for 34 in a 30 limit. I declared it in my policies and Ofsted and parents were never concerned about me driving their children.

I too always look at both bits of the driving licence. Convictions stay on for 4 years. I wouldn't be worried about one conviction for doing 34 in a 30 limit, I'd be worried about several of them. I wouldn't hire a nanny who had anything else - dangerous driving, driving without due care and attention or using a mobile when driving.