The Verkhovna Rada adopted in the second reading and as a whole draft law No. 13200 ‘On Mentoring,’ which introduces the institution of individual and corporate mentoring for children aged 10 and older and young people from vulnerable groups.
As explained by the relevant committee, mentoring currently covers a very narrow circle of children, and there is a lack of clear mechanisms for organising mentoring – from the selection and training of mentors to support, accounting and control. The new law is intended to expand the circle of mentoring recipients and standardise procedures.
The document provides for two forms of mentoring – individual and corporate, establishes requirements for mentors (in particular, age 21 and Ukrainian citizenship), launches a social service for organising mentoring and defines the entities that organise and control the process. Mechanisms for accounting, monitoring, support and state supervision in the field of mentoring are also being introduced.
According to information from the materials for the second reading, an age threshold of 10 years has been set for children, and the mentoring agreement is to be tripartite: mentor, parents or legal representatives of the child and social service provider. Mentoring is only possible with the consent of the legal representatives and the child themselves.
Commenting on the adoption of the law to Interfax-Ukraine, lawyer Oleksiy Shevchuk emphasised the novelty of the mechanism for older children.
‘The key point is that it is not necessary to establish guardianship or custody for children aged 10 and older,’ he said.
The law will come into force after it is signed by the president and officially published in accordance with the established procedure.
