Types of Social Assistance
The Law on Social Assistance regulates an entire catalogue of monetary and non-monetary support. The types of social assistance are: subsistence allowance; reintegration allowance; foster-care remuneration; family-care remuneration for an adult; non-monetary social assistance; and the social package. Knowing this list is the first step of the receipt route — each type has its own conditions and administration procedure.
Subsistence Allowance
A family is entitled to claim the subsistence allowance — a monetary social assistance intended to improve the socio-economic condition of needy families identified through the assessment system. The assessment system is the instrument for identifying poor families, and precisely its result determines which family becomes a recipient. The amount of the allowance is determined by the Government of Georgia, while the procedure and conditions of its assignment, suspension, renewal and termination are regulated by the Minister's order.
Reintegration Allowance
A family is likewise entitled to claim the reintegration allowance — a monetary social assistance granted to the biological family or the guardian (carer) of a person in need of special care, who takes that person from a specialized institution to live in a family environment and provides appropriate care. The amount of this allowance is likewise determined by a government act, and the assignment and termination procedure — by the Minister's order.
The Social Package and Its Grounds
The social package is a monthly monetary benefit and/or a combination of benefits (monetary and non-monetary) whose volume, circle of recipients and delivery procedure are settled by government decree. The grounds for assigning the social package are: the establishment of disability status and the death of the breadwinner. Two gates to the package thus exist, and each of them requires its own supporting materials.
The Amount of the PWD Package
The amount of the social package of persons with disability status is determined as the amount of the base package defined by the relevant government act, increased: for persons with sharply pronounced disability status and children with disability status — by the sum of 80 percent of the arithmetic mean of GDP real growth indicators over the last 6 quarters and the average inflation of the last 12 months, but by not less than 25 lari; for all other categories — by the average inflation of the last 12 months, but by not less than 20 lari.
Additional rules apply: if the increased amount is less than a multiple of 5, it is rounded up to the nearest multiple of 5; the increase is reflected from the very first month of the budget year; the inflation and growth indicators are determined under the procedure of the Budget Code, relying on the official data of the National Statistics Service; and the Government is empowered to establish the increased amount of the base package calculated in accordance with these principles. The general principles of appeal are likewise established by law, and in case of refusal the decision is appealable.
Two practical advices matter in planning the receipt route. First: support for several types of assistance at once is often possible, but each of them requires a separate application and separate documentation — data on family composition, income and living conditions are recorded in different forms. Second: the result of the assessment system is dynamic — upon a change of circumstances a review is possible, and where a family believes the assessment was incomplete, a demand for review is raised through the appeal route.
The indexation rule of the packages likewise sometimes becomes contested: the calculation rests on inflation and GDP growth, based on official statistics, and where a recipient doubts the sum, verification is made precisely by this formula — independent arithmetic is here the strongest argument. Finally, the boundaries of the types should be remembered: the subsistence allowance is tied to the family's neediness, the reintegration allowance to the return of a person from a specialized institution, and the social package to status or the breadwinner's death — mixing these bases in one application only slows the process down.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the types of social assistance?
Subsistence and reintegration allowances, foster-care and family-care remuneration, non-monetary assistance and the social package.
Who receives the subsistence allowance?
Needy families identified through the assessment system; the amount is set by the Government and the procedure by the Minister's order.
How is the PWD package calculated?
The base package is increased by 80 percent of GDP growth and inflation (for the sharply pronounced status and children — not less than 25 lari), for others — by inflation of not less than 20 lari, rounded to a multiple of 5.
What are the grounds for the package?
Establishment of disability status and the breadwinner's death; both cases require their own documentation.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The Legal.ge team helps prepare the claim for financial assistance: understanding the assessment system, collecting documentation, verifying the package calculation and appealing a refusal. Write to us — we will plan your family's support strategy.