I am a Polish volunteer, I met a young girl from Ukraine who is completely alone here. I would like to take care of her, what do I have to do?

Polish citizens who want to take care of a refugee child must undergo “standard” procedures for establishing family foster care. You should report to the County Family Assistance Center appropriate for your place of stay, which will “register” the child in the foster care system in Poland, and at the same time will guide the guardian in further activities, i.e. refer them to school and conduct the so-called qualification (check housing conditions, predispositions to care for children, etc.). However, if you want to take custody temporarily, the court may appoint you as a foster parent for the child for up to 6 months without training. If you also want to take legal custody of a child, you must apply to the family court of your place of residence to do so. The special act made for deal with current situation allows the court to establish the so-called temporary caregiver for children (who meet the conditions set out in the act, i.e. entered Poland since February 24, 2022 and are citizens of Ukraine). Such a guardian will have rights similar to that of a legal guardian, but will be under the control of the Social Welfare Center, and will have to obtain the consent of the court for some decisions on more important matters of the child.