A one-time social benefit is provided to families (citizens) who find themselves in a difficult life situation that objectively disrupts their normal life activities, provided that their per capita income does not exceed 150 percent of the subsistence minimum budget per capita.
A difficult life situation that objectively disrupts the normal life activities of a family is understood as circumstances that are difficult to resolve independently: complete disability due to disability or reaching the age of 80, inability to self-care due to illness, as well as natural disasters, catastrophes, fires, and other circumstances.
The list of circumstances that can be attributed to a difficult life situation is open-ended.
The existence of a difficult life situation that entitles a family (citizen) to receive a one-time social benefit is confirmed by documents or established by a commission based on an act of inspection of the material and living conditions, compiled at its instruction collegially (at least three people) by specialists from the labor, employment, and social protection authority, the territorial center for social services for the population, with the involvement of representatives of local self-government bodies and public associations.
By Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of February 25, 2011 No. 72 "On Certain Issues of Price (Tariff) Regulation in the Republic of Belarus" the lists of goods (works, services) whose prices (tariffs) are regulated by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus, state bodies (organizations) have been determined.
Social services provided by state institutions of social services of the system of labor, employment and social protection bodies are included in the list of socially significant goods (works, services) whose prices (tariffs) are regulated by regional executive committees and the Minsk City Executive Committee (Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of January 17, 2014 No. 35).
For social services, please contact the territorial centers for social services for the population (hereinafter referred to as "centers"), which operate in all administrative districts of the republic. The centers have specialized departments, including home-based social assistance, emergency social services, and others.
The conditions for providing social services (free of charge, partially or fully paid) depend on the financial and family situation of citizens (as defined by the Instruction on the procedure and conditions for providing social services by state social service institutions, approved by the Resolution of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus dated January 26, 2013, No. 11).
Social services are provided free of charge to: low-income single disabled citizens (families)
On a partial payment basis: to single disabled citizens (families) whose per capita income does not exceed 200 percent of the officially established subsistence minimum per capita.
On a full payment basis: to other disabled citizens.
In accordance with the Instruction on the procedure and conditions for providing social services by state social service institutions, approved by the Resolution of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus dated January 26, 2013, No. 11:
disabled citizens include children with disabilities under 18 years of age who have completed the educational program for special education at the level of general secondary education for persons with intellectual disabilities; Group 1 or 2 disabled persons; unemployed citizens aged 60 and over who have reached the generally established retirement age and are eligible for a state pension;
low-income citizens (families) include citizens (families) whose per capita income, for objective reasons, is below the subsistence minimum per capita in effect on the date of application for social services;
single persons are recognized as disabled citizens who have no adult children, spouses, and parents who are not Group 1 or 2 disabled persons and have not reached the generally established retirement age.
To provide social services and social assistance to disabled and elderly citizens within the labor, employment, and social protection system, there are stationary (80 boarding houses of three types) and non-stationary (146 territorial centers for social services for the population) social service institutions.
Territorial centers for social services for the population (hereinafter referred to as centers) are designed to provide citizens in difficult life situations with various types of social services, taking into account their needs, as well as in accordance with indications and contraindications for service, which are determined by healthcare organizations.
For this purpose, specialized departments are opened within the structure of the centers: primary reception, information, analysis and forecasting, emergency social services, home social assistance, social adaptation and rehabilitation, and day and round-the-clock care.
For example, for citizens who have partially lost the ability to self-care and move and have no contraindications for service, social workers of the home social assistance departments provide social, household, socio-rehabilitative, and other types of social services (home delivery of food, medicines, essential goods, assistance with apartment cleaning, payment for housing and utilities, delivery of water, fuel, and potatoes from storage, etc.), provide necessary information on social services and social assistance, organize social and household services by trade enterprises, and other services.
Emergency social service departments of the centers provide one-time social services at home. Also, for citizens who have completely lost the ability to self-care and move, caregiver services are provided.
In the social adaptation and rehabilitation departments, you can use the services of a psychologist.
In rural areas, for disabled citizens who, for various reasons, cannot live independently, centers operate round-the-clock care departments. Here, citizens are provided with housing with a set of material and household support, including three meals a day, a favorable microclimate is created, sanitary, hygienic, and rehabilitation measures are carried out, and care, cultural events, and leisure activities are organized.
For young people with disabilities, including graduates of correctional and developmental education and rehabilitation centers of the Ministry of Education system, day care departments for people with disabilities are created and operate within the centers, providing them with opportunities to develop vocational skills, engage in hobbies, and leisure activities.
The work of the centers with elderly people includes organizing their care and cultural leisure activities during the day, and involving them in socially useful activities. For these purposes, day care departments for elderly citizens have been established in the centers, where older generations engage in applied arts, preserving folk traditions of amateur creativity and crafts, and developing their talents and abilities.
For detailed information, please contact the center at your place of residence.
To be enrolled in home-based social services, you must submit a written application to the territorial center for social services for the population (hereinafter referred to as the Center) at your place of actual residence, providing: an identity document; a document of the established form confirming the right to benefits; a medical certificate of the citizen's health status.
Within three working days from the date of application, the Center's employees will conduct an assessment of the citizen's material and living conditions, drawing up an act of assessment, and will request from state bodies and other organizations: information on the amount of pension received for the month preceding the month of application (for single disabled citizens (families); a certificate of residence and family composition; information on the absence of care for the citizen applying for social services by a person receiving benefits for caring for a Group 1 disabled person or a person who has reached the age of 80.
The decision to conclude a social service agreement is made within five working days after receiving the last required document (information).
In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of January 19, 2012 No. 41 "On State Targeted Social Assistance", monthly social benefits are provided to low-income citizens and families who, for objective reasons, have an average per capita income for the last 12 months below the subsistence minimum budget per capita (SMB).
The amount of monthly social benefits per recipient per month is the positive difference between the SMB and the average per capita income and is recalculated when the SMB increases during the period of benefit provision.