Social assistance; applying for help to overcome particular social difficulties

Persons with special living conditions associated with social difficulties are entitled to help to overcome these difficulties within the framework of social assistance if they are unable to do so on their own. This includes, for example, people without adequate accommodation (homeless people), homeless people, ex-offenders and young people with behavioral disorders who cannot be granted educational assistance under Social Code VIII or integration assistance.

The assistance includes all necessary measures to avert, eliminate or alleviate the difficulties or prevent them from worsening (e.g. counseling and personal support; obtaining and maintaining a home and a job; securing schooling and vocational training). Cash and non-cash benefits are also eligible.

Personal assistance is granted regardless of income and assets. In the case of cash benefits and benefits in kind , the income limit of Section 85 of the Social Security Code XII applies (basic amount of twice the standard needs level 1 (see "Social assistance; applying for assistance with living expenses" + 70% of the standard needs level 1 for other family members + reasonable accommodation expenses). The income and assets of the person seeking assistance and the dependants are only to be taken into account if this does not jeopardize the success of the assistance.

• There are special living conditions (e.g. unsecured economic livelihood, lack of or inadequate housing, violent living conditions, release from prison).
• There are social difficulties of a serious nature that significantly restrict participation in life in the community and clearly exceed the level of general social difficulties.
• The person concerned is unable to overcome the difficulties by his/her own efforts.

You can first informally notify the responsible office of your need for assistance.

A fully completed social assistance application can be submitted at a later date.

As the responsible office can only grant assistance from the time it learns of the applicant's need for assistance, the need for assistance should be notified as soon as possible. This notification can be made in writing, by telephone or in person.

After the application has been reviewed and, if necessary, further opinions have been obtained, the applicant will receive a legally binding decision from the competent authority.

This assistance begins as soon as the responsible body or a body commissioned by it becomes aware that the conditions for the benefit are met.

A decision on the application will be made immediately. The processing time depends, among other things, on the completeness of the information provided and the submission of the evidence required for processing the application.

• The following documents in particular are required for the application:
  
  • Personalausweis oder Reisepass (oder sonstige Dokumente, die die Person zweifelsfrei ausweisen können)
  • gegebenenfalls Bescheid der Pflegekasse und Gutachten des Medizinischen Dienstes der Krankenkassen
  • soweit vorhanden ärztliche Unterlagen
  • gegebenenfalls Bescheid des Versorgungsamtes über die Feststellung eines Grades der Behinderung (z. B. Schwerbehindertenausweis)
  • Nachweise über Kranken- und Pflegeversicherung
  • Ablehnungsbescheid der Kranken- oder Pflegekasse einschließlich Begründung
  • Einkommensnachweise
  • Vermögensnachweise (beispielsweise für kapitalbildende Versicherung (Lebensversicherung, Bausparversicherung, Riesterrentenverträge, Sterbegeldversicherung, Bestattungsvorsorge und Ähnliches), Sparkonten, Grundstücke, Immobilien, Wertgegenstände, Kfz)
  • Kontoauszüge
  • Mietvertrag, gegebenenfalls Mietänderungsschreiben
  • Es können weitere Unterlagen erforderlich sein. Der Umfang der benötigten Unterlagen richtet sich nach den Besonderheiten des Einzelfalls.

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