Sibiu Social Assistance Directorate*

The procedure describes the activities carried out for the termination of free urban public transport for people with severe and serious disabilities, their personal assistants or companions according to the provisions of Law no.448 of 2006 regarding the protection and promotion of the rights of disabled persons, with subsequent amendments and completions.

The termination of the right to free urban public transport is carried out in the following situations:

- at the beneficiary’s request;

- following the death of the beneficiary;

- changing the degree of disability as a result of reassessment;

- changing the residence of the beneficiary to another locality or county;

- as a result of not fulfilling the conditions that were the basis for granting urban public transport free of charge, ex officio, for beneficiaries (expiration of the validity of the disability certificate, expiration of the identity card or bulletin);

- as a result of the beneficiary's retirement and the request for the free TURSIB card granted to those who are retirees.

Persons who no longer fulfill the conditions for granting the right to free urban surface public transport must submit to the Sibiu Social Assistance Directorate an application by which they inform the institution about this fact.

Beneficiaries of free transport who no longer meet the conditions that were the basis for granting this right are obliged to return the received ID.

The procedure describes the activities carried out in order to grant free urban public transport for persons with severe disabilities, persons with major disabilities, their personal assistants or companions according to Law no. 448 of 2006 regarding the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities, with subsequent amendments and completions.

Requests for the issuance of the pass for free urban public transportation are submitted to the Social Assistance Directorate Sibiu between the 1st and 20th of each month, following which, after checking the fulfillment of the granting conditions, the passes will be completed and issued to the applicants in the last 2 working days of the month.

Persons classified with a degree of severe disability with a personal assistant have the right to be provided with the employment of a personal assistant paid by the local public authorities or to be granted a monthly allowance in case they do not opt for employing a personal assistantl.

The option is expressed by a written request, which will be sent by the Social Assistance Directorate Sibiu to the General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection Sibiu, and becomes valid only on the basis of written consent expressed by it.

The above-mentioned monthly allowance is stipulated in art. 42 para. (4) of Law no. 448/2006 on the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities, republished, with subsequent amendments and completions and is in an amount equal to the net salary of the personal assistant grade 0, established according to the legal provisions regulating the salary level of personnel paid from public funds.

The monthly allowance can only be requested by persons who have their domicile or residence within the municipality of Sibiu.

The present procedure establishes the steps to be taken for the approval of the payment of the monthly allowance,to parents or, as the case may be, to the legal representatives of the child with severe disability, to the person or family who has received into placement a child with severe disability, to adults with severe disability orto their legal representatives in the situation where they have opted for this.

The adult with severe disability / his/her legal representative or the parents / legal representatives of the child with severe disability / the person or family who has received into placement a child with severe disability shall submit a request for the monthly allowance, only if the document certifying classification with a degree of disability includes the mention "with personal assistant”.

Payment of the monthly allowance will be made for the period of validity of the disability certificate and is grantedstarting with the month following the submission of the application, based on a Decision issued by the Mayor of Sibiu Municipality, which will be communicated to the applicant.

Payment can be made by postal order or into the applicant's personal current account.

The heating aid for the home and the energy supplement are granted to fully or partially cover the expenses for heating the home during the respective cold seasonsupport for cooking facilities and ensuring hot water in the home, ensuring continuity of power supply to electrical equipment on which a person's life depends, for health reasons, and the use of communication means that require energy.

The heating aid is granted to vulnerable consumers of centralized thermal energy, electricity, natural gas, solid and/or petroleum-based fuels. This is granted only for one heating system, which must be the main one used.

The energy supplement can be requested together with the heating aid or separately. It is granted cumulatively according to the energy supply sources used.

Beneficiaries: families and single persons who meet the following conditions:

- they actually live at the address for which they request this aid, are registered in the property registry and are considered when establishing housing maintenance expenses;

- they have income up to 1386 lei/family member in the case of families, or 2053 lei in the case of single persons;

- they do not own property included in the List of assets that lead to exclusion from social aid;

- they have the status of aid holder, which applies in the following situations:

· owner of the home;

· legal successor of the home owner;

· person who transferred the home under a sale-purchase agreement with maintenance clauses or with right of habitation;

· holder of a rental, commodate, or concession contract;

· another adult family member authorized by the home owner or by the rental contract holder;

· legal representative of the single person who does not have legal capacity (person under interdiction, etc.)

The heating aid is granted based on an application-declaration on one's own responsibility, accompanied by supporting documents regarding family composition, income obtained in the month preceding the application submission by its members, and the assets held, including in other administrative-territorial units.

When determining the monthly net income of the family or, as the case may be, of the single person, all the income that its members obtained in the month preceding the application submission is considered, including those from state social insurance rights, unemployment insurance, indemnities, allowances and permanent social assistance, regardless of the budget from which they are paid, legal maintenance obligations and other legal claims, with the exception of: family support allowance, state allowance for children, complementary personal budget and social benefits for disabled persons, school scholarships, educational incentive, financial supportgranted to students within the National Social Protection Program "Money for High School", income obtained from occasional activities performed by day laborers, occasional amounts granted from the state or local budget as compensation or financial support in exceptional situations.

Applications-declarations are submitted only once at the beginning of the season. A holder is legally entitled to only one heating aid, depending on the type of home heating (thermal energy, natural gas, electricity, solid or petroleum-based fuels).

If, during the cold season, families and single persons meet the conditions for granting the heating aid, the right is established starting from the month of application, if submitted by the 20th of the month.

Single persons and families who own property included in the list that leads to exclusion from heating aid, specified in Annex no.4 to HG 559/2017, do NOT benefit from heating aid or the energy supplement.

Persons who, in the last 2 years prior to the date of the child's birth, have earned for at least 12 months income from salaries and similar salary income, income from independent activities, income from intellectual property rights, income from agricultural, forestry, and fish farming activities, subject to income tax according to the provisions of Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code, with subsequent amendments and completions, hereinafter referred to as taxable income, are entitled to parental leave for raising a child up to 2 years old, or 3 years old in the case of a child with disabilities, as well as a monthly allowance.
The 12 months may be constituted entirely from periods in which the persons were in one or more of the situations provided in Article 2, paragraph (5) of OUG 111/2010.
The amount of the monthly allowance is 85% of the average net income earned in the last 12 months of the last 2 years prior to the date of the child's birth. The minimum amount of the monthly allowance cannot be lower than the sum resulting from applying a multiplication coefficient of 2.5 to the value of the reference social indicator, and its maximum amount cannot exceed the value of 8,500 lei.

In the event that one of the parents prevents or negatively affects the child's personal relationships with the other parent, by not respecting the program established by the court or agreed by the parents, the other parent may request the Sibiu Social Assistance Directorate, Child Protection Office, if the child's residence is in Sibiu, to monitor personal relationships with the child for a period of up to 6 months. At the end of the monitoring period, the representative of the Child Protection Office within the Sibiu Social Assistance Directorate who has drawn up the aforementioned report may propose the extension of the monitoring period by up to 6 months, may recommend psychological counseling for one or both parents, as well as a series of measures to improve the personal relationship between the child and the parent with whom the child does not live.

The aforementioned monitoring report shall be handed to each parent and may be used as evidence in court.

The state allowance for children is granted to all children up to the age of 18, without discrimination. The state allowance for children is also granted to young people who have reached the age of 18, who are attending high school or vocational education courses organized according to the law, until they finish them, except for those who repeat the school year, with the exception of those who repeat for health reasons, proven by a medical certificate.

Foreign citizens' children and stateless persons residing, under the law, in Romania and living together with their parents are also entitled to the state allowance for children.

This right can be requested by either of the child's natural parents, as well as the person who has adopted a child, provided they meet the eligibility criteria.

For families of Romanian citizens who do or do not carry out salaried work in a member state of the EU and who have requested, in writing, the right to family benefits in that member state, but who do not fall within the provisions of the respective state's law for the granting of these, may request the right to the state allowance for children in Romania, based on an application and supporting documents, regarding the state allowance for children, as well as for the regulation of the methods of payment of the state allowance for children.

Persons classified as having severe disabilities with a personal assistant have the right to be provided with the employment of a personal assistant paid by the local public authorities, in order to facilitate equal opportunities, ensure an autonomous life, and promote social inclusion.

The Sibiu Social Assistance Directorate is obliged to take the necessary measures to ensure the employment of personal assistants for all persons in need, classified as having severe disabilities with a personal assistant, without any discrimination, based on the choice of the parents or, as appropriate, the legal representatives of the child with severe disabilities, the person or family who has received a child with severe disabilities in placement, adults with severe disabilities, or their legal representatives.

The person with severe disabilities, for whom employment as a personal assistant is requested, must have their domicile or residence within the municipality of Sibiu.

The procedure describes the activities carried out in order to determine the status and social context of the person requesting the social inquiry necessary for evaluation / re-evaluation with a view to classification within a degree of disability / evaluation for admission to a residential center for persons with disabilities by the Evaluation Committee for Adults with Disabilities Sibiu.

At the request of the adult with disabilities (who is domiciled in Sibiu municipality) / their legal representative or a relative, the staff from S.A.P.D. will travel to the address indicated in the application, in order to collect the data and information necessary to prepare the social inquiry.

The signed and stamped social inquiry will be handed over to the applicant, who will read it to verify the authenticity of the recorded data, and later express their agreement regarding what they have read and sign to receive a copy of it.

GRANTING OF MINIMUM INCLUSION INCOME

Procedure description

The minimum inclusion income represents the financial support provided by the state in order to ensure the minimum standard of living for the prevention of poverty risk and has two components:

- Inclusion support

- Support for families with children

The establishment of the right to minimum inclusion income consists in the analysis of the application and the documents submitted, entry of the request into the VMI micro-application, validation of the information in the application, income verification, home visit to the applicant to confirm the accuracy of the information stated in the application, performing the field verification sheet for checking the data provided by the beneficiary, drawing up the synthesis report, preparation of the intervention plan, drawing up the grant note for the minimum inclusion income in view of issuing the mayor's order and granting the rights provided by law to the beneficiaries.

According to Law no. 196/2016 regarding the minimum inclusion income, individual persons and families in difficulty who meet the granting conditions according to law and have domicile/residence within Sibiu municipality may benefit from minimum inclusion income.

What are the conditions for granting VMI?

To benefit from the minimum inclusion income, interested persons must meet the following general conditions:

ü Not to have sufficient income to ensure a minimum standard of living.

ü For individuals/families up to 65 years old who obtain a net adjusted income less than or equal to the maximum level established by law, namely 346 lei.

ü For single individuals at least 65 years old who obtain a net adjusted income less than or equal to the maximum level established by law, namely 504 lei.

ü To obtain monthly adjusted net income up to 880 lei, to grant support for families with children.

ü To complete the application for the minimum inclusion income and to provide supporting documents.

ü The application will be analyzed by DAS Sibiu representatives to verify fulfillment of the granting conditions for VMI. Document verification will be carried out, and depending on the case, the field verification sheet is drawn up at the declared domicile/residence/home.

ü The granting of VMI must be approved by the mayor's order.

To benefit from inclusion support, at least one able-bodied adult member of the family has the obligation to perform monthly actions or works of local interest, respecting the normal working hours and occupational health and safety rules. Failure to fulfill the obligation to perform activities or works of local interest leads to the suspension of payment of the inclusion support for a maximum period of 3 months and, respectively, to the termination of payment if the obligation is not met during the suspension period as well.

Families and single persons who own at least one of the goods listed below are not eligible for minimum inclusion income.

LIST
of goods leading to exclusion from granting the minimum inclusion income

A. Immovable goods

Buildings, other housing spaces outside the domicile, as well as land located within the city limits with an area over 1,200 sqm in urban areas and 2,500 sqm in rural areas, outside the enclosure land of the home and its yard

B. Movable goods

1. More than one vehicle older than 10 years, with the right to drive on public roads

2. Vehicle with the right to drive on public roads less than 10 years old, except for those used and/or adapted for the transport of persons with disabilities

3. Motorboats, boats with engines, yachts, or other types of watercraft, except those necessary for transport for people living in the "Danube Delta" Biosphere Reserve area

NOTE:

In case one or more goods owned by the beneficiary single person/family of minimum inclusion income is leased/rented/conceded, this asset will be considered for the person/family leasing/renting/conceding it, and for the rightful owner the value obtained from leasing the right of use will be considered.

The person or family who, besides the domicile, owns a quota-share from another building/housing space/real estate may benefit from minimum inclusion income regardless of the quota size, if this possession does not allow them to capitalize on the good in question.

C. Bank deposits

At least one family member holds, as owner, one or more bank accounts/deposits, whose total sum is more than 3 times the value of the average gross salary provided by the Social Insurance Law.

OWNERSHIP OF ANY OF THE ABOVE GOODS LEADS TO EXCLUSION FROM GRANTING THE MINIMUM INCLUSION INCOME

Means of appeal

The mayor's order regarding granting, denial, modification, suspension, termination of the rights provided by this law, change of the holder thereof, including those for the recovery of unduly received amounts, may be challenged according to the provisions of the Administrative Litigation Law no. 554/2004, as amended and supplemented.

The social service "Day Center for Elderly People", social service code 8810CZ-V-II, operates as a unit without legal personality under the subordination of the Multifunctional Center for Community Services within the Social Assistance Department Sibiu, accredited as a social service provider according to the accreditation certificate series AF and no. 003118.

The purpose of the social service "Day Center for Elderly People" is to improve the quality of life for elderly people who are alone, without income or with low income, at risk of social exclusion, by providing socialization and leisure services, organizing and participating in community and cultural activities, and support for performing administrative activities and managing property.

This procedure aims to monitor the manner of growth and care of the child with parents working abroad, as well as those who have returned to the country after a period of living abroad with their parents for more than one year.

Thus, the Sibiu Directorate of Social Assistance through the Child Protection Office annually requests, in the last quarter of the year, from the educational institutions operating in the municipality of Sibiu data and information regarding children in the following situations:

a) children with both parents working abroad;
  b) children with the single supporting parent working abroad;
  c) children with one parent working abroad;
  d) children who returned to the country after a period of living abroad with their parents for more than one year.
  The educational institution is obliged to send the nominal list of children in the situations provided above within at most 15 calendar days from the request. The list will include the child's name and surname, the parents' names and surnames or, as the case may be, the parent’s name and surname, and their home address.
  After receiving the data, the representatives of the Sibiu Directorate of Social Assistance are obligated to visit the address where the children in the situations provided above are being cared for. The person who is in charge of raising and caring for a child with a parent/parents working abroad is obliged to provide the Directorate of Social Assistance with all the data and information they have regarding the address where the parents can be contacted abroad and to prove that they keep in touch with them.
Also, the parent who exercises sole parental authority or with whom the child resides, who is about to leave to work abroad, and who lives in the municipality of Sibiu, is required to notify this intention to the Sibiu Directorate of Social Assistance at least 40 days before leaving the country.
  The notification will mandatorily include the appointment of the person who will care for the child during the parents' or guardian’s absence, as the case may be.
  Also, the parent who exercises sole parental authority or with whom the child lived, who is working abroad, has the obligation to immediately send to the Sibiu Directorate of Social Assistance in the locality where the child is, the notification regarding the appointment of the person who will take care of the child during their absence.

In order to support families in raising and caring for children with parents working abroad, the Sibiu Directorate of Social Assistance through the Child Protection Office fulfills the following duties:

  a) monitors the maintenance of personal relationships between children and the parents who are working abroad;

  b) organizes parental education programs intended for the parent who takes care of the child after the other parent leaves to work abroad, or for persons appointed to care for children whose parents are working abroad, as well as for those who have returned to the country after a period of living abroad with parents for more than one year;

  c) organizes quarterly meetings or as often as necessary with those who are responsible for raising and caring for the children, as well as with the parent who is responsible for raising and caring for the child after the second parent leaves to work abroad;

  d) facilitates and supports the maintenance of permanent contact between the representatives of the school attended by the child and the person entrusted by the parents with the child’s care;

  e) encourages the parent or, as the case may be, the person entrusted with the child’s care and teachers to establish learning agreements, appropriate to their needs, explicitly including the goals, expectations, and responsibilities of the school and the family;

  f) supports the parent or, as the case may be, the person entrusted with the child’s care in using counseling methods that facilitate family communication, problem-solving, etc.

The procedure describes the activities carried out for the termination of the monthly allowance provided in art.42 para.4 of Law no.448/2006 regarding the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities, republished, with subsequent amendments and additions.

The termination of the right to the monthly allowance is done in the following situations:

- at the beneficiary's request;

- following the death of the beneficiary;

- following a change in the degree of disability after reevaluation;

- following a change in the beneficiary's domicile to the area of another locality in Sibiu county or another county;

- as a result of not meeting the conditions that were the basis for granting the allowance (expiration of the validity of the certificate attesting severe disability with a personal assistant, expiration of the validity of the identity card or bulletin);

- following the admission of the person with severe disability with a personal assistant into a public residential center or other types of public residential institutions of social or medical-social character where full maintenance is provided by the public administration authority for a period longer than one month, as well as in the case where adults with severe disabilities are in the care and protection of a professional personal assistant.

Persons who no longer meet the conditions for granting the right to the monthly allowance submit to the Social Assistance Department Sibiu an application by which they inform the institution of this fact.

The allowance ceases with the month following the one in which the person with severe disability with a personal assistant no longer meets the conditions that led to the decision establishing the right by the Order issued by the Mayor of Sibiu Municipality, which will be communicated to relatives.

Amounts as monthly allowance due and unpaid until the death of the person with severe disability with a personal assistant, shall be paid to the surviving spouse, children, parents or, in their absence, other heirs, under common law conditions.

​The procedure is addressed to persons who wish to be admitted to a home for elderly people or a medico-social assistance unit, home care services, registration in a club for elderly people or those who wish to benefit from the allowance for informal carers and is resolved after completing a request for this purpose​

The procedure is addressed to individuals who wish to be admitted to a home for elderly persons or a medico-social assistance unit, home care services, or registration in a club for elderly persons.

The procedure establishes the method of carrying out the stages of case management that fall under the responsibility of the Social Assistance Directorate Sibiu, namely the staff within the Service for Assistance for Persons with Disabilities in the situation of children with disabilities and/or SEN from the family, who have their domicile or residence within the municipality of Sibiu.

The stages of case management that fall under the responsibility of S.A.D. Sibiu are as follows:

a) identification and initial assessment of children who do not have a certificate of classification in a degree of disability and/or school and professional orientation, with suspected disability;

b) social assessment of the child with disabilities and/or SEN in the family and community context;

c) detailed information of the parents / legal representative of the child with disabilities regarding:

· the legal rights the child and family benefit from;

· the right to education for all children;

· the importance of habilitation-rehabilitation of the child for their development;

· the necessary documents for preparing the file for classification in a degree of disability / school and professional orientation, the procedures and route for obtaining these documents.

e) monitoring and periodic reassessment of the progress recorded by the child with disabilities and/or SEN, the effectiveness of benefits, services and interventions, as well as the beneficiaries' degree of satisfaction;

The social inquiry contains data regarding the family context of the child, the quality of the child's development environment: housing, food, clothing, hygiene, ensuring physical and psychological security, including environmental factors as barriers and facilitators, as well as personal factors.

The social service "Day Center for School-Aged Children", social service code 8899CZ-C-II, is a service that operates in the Municipality of Sibiu, Oțelarilor Street, no. 48 and is part of the Multifunctional Social Services Center within the structure of the Sibiu Social Assistance Directorate, accredited as a provider of social services according to the accreditation certificate series AF no. 003118.

The purpose of the day social service activity is to prevent school dropout of children, begging, criminality, or other antisocial activities of the child who is in a situation of social risk, by providing during the day (after school hours) activities of care, education, recreation-socialization, counseling, development of independent living skills, school and career guidance for children, as well as support, counseling, and education activities for parents/legal representatives, as well as for other persons who care for children.

The day center for school-aged children also supports parents to cope with the psychosocial difficulties that affect family relationships, for the development of parental skills, for the prevention of the child's separation from his family, and supports children when problems arise in their development. Counseling services for family and children are complementary to other child protection services within the Sibiu Social Assistance Directorate.

Through the social assistance canteen, free or paid meals are offered to persons in special economic-social or medical situations.

Beneficiaries:

a) children up to 18 years old, who are dependent on families whose average net monthly income per dependent person is below the net monthly income level for a single person, used in calculating social assistance;

b) young people attending full-time courses at educational institutions operating according to the law, until graduation, but not exceeding the age of 25 years, respectively 26 years for those pursuing higher education lasting more than 5 years, who are in the situation provided for in letter a);

c) persons who benefit from social assistance or other monetary aid granted under the law and whose income is up to the net monthly income level for a single person, used in calculating social assistance;

d) pensioners;

e) persons who have reached retirement age, in one of the following situations: are socially isolated, have no legal supporters, have no income;

f) invalids and chronically ill persons;

g) any person who, temporarily, does not earn income (granted for a period of up to 90 days per year).

The meal at the social assistance canteen is granted free of charge for persons who have no income or whose income is below the net monthly income level for a single person, used in calculating social assistance.

Persons entitled to benefit from the services of the social assistance canteen, and who earn income above the net monthly income level for a single person, used in calculating social assistance, may benefit from the services of the social assistance canteen by paying a contribution of 30% of the income per person, without exceeding the cost of the meals served, calculated for the same period.

The meal at the social assistance canteen is granted based on an application-declaration on one's own responsibility, accompanied by supporting documents regarding the family composition, income earned in the month prior to submitting the application by its members, and assets held, including in other administrative-territorial units.

For the social assistance canteen services, able-bodied persons from the beneficiary's family must perform 48 hours per month of local interest activities or work, without exceeding the normal work schedule; failure to fulfill this obligation results in the cessation of meal provision at the social canteen, and if the beneficiary does not show up, without valid reasons, for more than three consecutive days, at the canteen headquarters, for serving or picking up meals, the right to meals is suspended.

Persons who, in the last 2 years prior to the child's birth, have earned for at least 12 months income from salaries and salary assimilated income, income from independent activities, income from intellectual property rights, income from agricultural, forestry, and fisheries activities, subject to income tax according to the provisions of Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code, with subsequent amendments and completions, hereinafter referred to as taxable income, benefit from the insertion incentive for raising a child up to 2 years old, or 3 years old in the case of a child with disabilities, provided that taxable income is earned.