Sibiu Social Assistance Directorate*

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

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

- at the request of the beneficiary;

- following the death of the beneficiary person;

- change in the degree of disability following re-evaluation;

- change of domicile of the beneficiary person to another locality or another county;

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

- as a result of the retirement of the beneficiary person and requesting the TURSIB card free of charge granted to persons who have the status of retiree.

Persons who no longer meet the conditions for granting the right to free urban public surface transport shall submit to the Social Assistance Directorate Sibiu a request by which they notify the institution of this fact.

Beneficiaries of free transport who no longer fulfill the conditions that formed the basis for granting this right have the obligation to hand in/return the received card.

The procedure describes the activities carried out in order to grant free urban transport with public transport means for persons with severe disabilities, persons with serious 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.

Applications for issuing free urban transport passes with surface public transport means are to be submitted to the Social Assistance Directorate Sibiu during the period 01 - 20 of each month, following which, after checking the fulfillment of the granting conditions, the passes shall be filled out and handed over to the applicants in the last 2 working days of the month.

Persons classified as having a severe disability with a personal assistant are entitled to have the employment of a personal assistant paid by the local public authorities or to be granted a monthly allowance if they do not opt for the employment of a personal assistant.

The option is expressed through 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 based on the written agreement expressed by them.

The above-mentioned monthly allowance is provided 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, 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 may be requested only by persons who have their domicile or residence within the municipality of Sibiu.

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

The adult with severe disability / his or her legal representative or the parents / legal representatives of the child with severe disability / the person or family who has received in placement a child with severe disability, will submit an application for the granting of the monthly allowance, only if the document certifying the classification as disabled includes the statement “with personal assistant.”

The payment of the monthly allowance will be made for the period of validity of the disability certificate and shall be grantedstarting with the month following the submission of the application, based on the 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 home heating aid and the energy supplement are granted to cover all or part of the expenses for the heating of the home during the cold season, and, respectively,support for cooking facilities and providing hot water in the home, ensuring the continuity in the supply of electrical equipment on which people's lives depend, for health reasons, and the use of communication means that require the use of energy.

The home heating aid is granted for vulnerable consumers of district heating, electricity, natural gas, solid and/or liquid fuels. It is granted only for one heating system, which is the main one used.

The energy supplement can be requested together with the home heating aid or separately. It is granted cumulatively depending on the sources of energy used.

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

- actually live at the address for which they request this aid, are registered in the property book, and are taken into account for establishing the housing maintenance expenses;

- have incomes of up to 1386 lei/family member in the case of a family, or 2053 lei in the case of a single person;

- do not own goods listed in the List of goods leading to the exclusion of social aid;

- have the status of aid holder, status found in the following situations:

· owner of the home;

· the legal successor of the owner of the home;

· person who transferred the home based on a sale-purchase contract with maintenance clauses or with occupancy rights;

· holder of a lease, loan for use, or concession contract;

· another adult family member empowered by the owner of the home or the holder of the lease contract;

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

The home heating aid is granted based on an application-declaration on one's own responsibility, accompanied by supporting documents regarding the composition of the family, the incomes achieved in the month prior to the application by its members, and the owned goods, including in other administrative-territorial units.

When determining the net monthly income of the family or, as the case may be, of the single person, all incomes received by its members in the month prior to the application are taken into account, including those from state social insurance rights, unemployment insurance, indemnities, allowances and permanent aid, regardless of the budget they are supported from, legal maintenance obligations and other legal claims, with the exception of: family support allowance, state allowance for children, personal complementary budget and social benefits for persons with disabilities, school scholarships, educational incentive, financial supportgranted to students within the National program of social protection "High school money", income obtained from occasional activities performed by day laborers, occasional amounts granted from the state or local budget as compensation or financial support for exceptional situations.

The submission of application-declarations is done only once, at the beginning of the season. A holder is not legally entitled to more than one heating aid, according to the type of home heating (district heating, natural gas, electricity, solid or liquid fuels).

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

Single persons and families who own goods included in the list that leads to the exclusion of granting the home heating aid, as provided in Annex no.4 to HG 559/2017, DO NOT benefit from home heating aid and energy supplement.

Persons who, in the last 2 years prior to the child’s birth, have obtained for at least 12 months income from salaries and salary-like sources, income from independent activities, income from intellectual property rights, income from agricultural, forestry, and fishery activities, subject to income tax in accordance with the provisions of Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code, with subsequent amendments and completions, hereinafter referred to as taxable income, benefit from child-raising leave for children up to 2 years old, or up to 3 years in the case of a child with disabilities, as well as a monthly allowance.
The 12 months may be fully constituted from periods in which the persons have been in one or more of the situations provided for in art. 2 para. (5) of GEO 111/2010.
The monthly allowance amount is 85% of the average net income earned in the last 12 months out of the 2 years prior to the child’s birth. The minimum amount of the monthly allowance may not be less than the sum resulting from applying a multiplication coefficient of 2.5 to the value of the social reference indicator, and its maximum amount may not exceed 8,500 lei.

If one of the parents prevents or negatively affects the child's personal relationships with the other parent by not respecting the schedule established by the court or agreed by the parents, the other parent may request the Sibiu Social Assistance Directorate, Child Protection Office, in the situation where the child's residence is in Sibiu, to monitor the 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 prepared the previously mentioned report may propose extending 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 they do not reside.

The monitoring report mentioned above is handed to each of the parents and can 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, organized according to the law, until graduation, except for those who repeat the school year, with the exception of those who repeat for health reasons, proven by a medical certificate.

The state allowance for children is also granted to children of foreign citizens and stateless persons residing, under the law, in Romania, if they live together with their parents.

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

For families of Romanian citizens who are or are not engaged in salaried activity in a EU member state and who have applied in writing for the right to family benefits in that member state, but do not fall under the provisions of the respective state’s law for granting these, may apply for the state allowance for children in Romania, based on a request and supporting documents, regarding the state allowance for children, as well as for regulating the payment modalities of the state allowance for children.

Persons classified as having a severe disability with a personal assistant are entitled to have a personal assistant employed and paid by the local public authorities, in order to facilitate equal opportunities, ensure an autonomous life, and support social inclusion.

The Sibiu Social Assistance Directorate has the obligation to take the necessary measures to ensure the employment of personal assistants for all persons in need, classified as having a severe disability with a personal assistant, without any discrimination, based on the choice of the parents or, as the case may be, the legal representatives of the child with a severe disability, the person or family who has received a child with a severe disability into care, adults with a severe disability, or their legal representatives.

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

The procedure describes the activities carried out for the purpose of establishing the status and social context in which the person requesting the social inquiry necessary for the evaluation/reevaluation for classification into feedback degree of disability / evaluation for admission into a residential center for persons with disabilities by the Evaluation Commission for Persons with Disabilities for Adults Sibiu lives.

At the request of the adult with disabilities (who has domicile in the city of Sibiu) / his or her legal representative or a relative, the staff of S.A.P.D. will travel to the address indicated in the application, in order to collect the data and information necessary for preparing the social inquiry.

The social inquiry, signed and stamped, will be handed to the applicant, who will read it, to verify the authenticity of the recorded data, then express their agreement regarding what has been read and sign for the receipt of a copy of it.

GRANTING THE MINIMUM INCLUSION INCOME

Procedure Description

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

- Inclusion aid

- Aid for families with children

The granting of the right to minimum inclusion income consists in analyzing the request and presented documents, entering the application in the VMI micro-application, validating the information in the application, verifying the income, home visit to the applicant's domicile for confirmation of the accuracy of the data mentioned in the application, performing the field check sheet with the purpose of verifying the data provided by the beneficiary, preparing the synthesis report, preparing the intervention plan, preparing the granting report for the right to the minimum inclusion income in order to issue the mayor's decision, and granting the rights provided by law to the beneficiaries.

According to Law no.196/2016 concerning the minimum inclusion income, the following may benefit from the minimum inclusion income: single persons and families in situations of difficulty, who meet the eligibility conditions according to the law and have their domicile/residence in the municipality of Sibiu.

What are the eligibility conditions for VMI?

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

ü They must not have sufficient income to ensure a minimum standard of living.

ü For single persons/families under the age of 65, with net adjusted income less than or equal to the maximum level established by law, namely 346 lei.

ü For single persons aged at least 65 years with net adjusted income less than or equal to the maximum established by law, namely 504 lei.

ü For granting help to families with children: to achieve adjusted net monthly income up to 880 lei.

ü To fill out the application for granting the minimum inclusion income and to provide supporting documents.

ü The application will be analyzed by the representatives of DAS Sibiu to check the eligibility conditions for granting the VMI. The submitted documents will be checked and, depending on the situation, a field verification sheet will be drawn up, at the declared domicile/residence/home.

ü VMI granting must be approved by the mayor's decision.

In order to benefit from inclusion aid, one of the able-to-work adult family members is required to perform monthly actions or works of local interest, in compliance with the normal work time duration and safety and health at work norms.The failure to fulfill the obligation to perform actions or works of local interest leads to the suspension of the inclusion aid payment for a period of up to somewhere 3 months and, accordingly, the cessation of payment if the obligation is still not fulfilled during the suspension period.

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

LIST
of goods that lead to exclusion from granting the minimum inclusion income

A. Immovable properties

Buildings, other living spaces besides the main residence, as well as plots of land located within urban areas of over 1,200 sqm and in rural areas of over 2,500 sqm, except for those around the house and its courtyard

B. Movable properties

1. More than one vehicle older than 10 years, which has the right to circulate on public roads

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

3. Speedboats, motorboats, yachts, or other types of boats, except for those necessary for transport for people living within the "Danube Delta" Biosphere Reserve

NOTE:

If one or more assets owned by the single person/family receiving the minimum inclusion income are rented/leased/concessioned, this asset will be taken into account for the person/family who has rented/leased it, and for the actual owner, the value obtained from granting the right of use will be taken into account.

A person or family who, in addition to their domicile has a quota of another building/living space/immovable property, may benefit from the minimum inclusion income, regardless of the size of that quota, if this ownership cannot be exploited (commercialized).

C. Bank deposits

If at least one family member, as account holder, has one or more bank accounts/deposits, whose total sum is more than 3 times the value of the average gross salary as provided by the Social Insurance Law.

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

Appeal proceedings

The mayor's decision regarding the granting, non-granting, modification, suspension, cessation of the rights provided by this law, change of their holder, including the recovery of undue amounts, may be appealed according to the provisions of the Administrative Litigation Law no. 554/2004, with derived amendments and completions.

The social service "Day Center for Elderly Persons", 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 Directorate 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 Persons" is to improve the quality of life of elderly people who are alone, without income or with low income, at risk of social exclusion, by providing socialization and leisure services, organizing and involvement in community and cultural activities, and support for administrative activities and asset management.

This procedure aims to monitor the way children with parents working abroad are raised and cared for, as well as those who have returned to the country after staying abroad with their parents for more than a 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 units operating within the city of Sibiu, data and information regarding children in the following situations:

a) children with both parents working abroad;
  b) children with the sole supporting parent working abroad;
  c) children with one parent working abroad;
  d) children who have returned to the country after staying abroad with their parents for more than a year.
  The educational unit is obligated to send the nominal list of children in the aforementioned situations within no more than 15 calendar days from the request. The list will include the child's full name, the parents' (or parent's, as applicable) full names, and the home address.
  After receiving the data, the representatives of the Sibiu Directorate of Social Assistance are required to go to the address where the children in these situations are cared for. The person taking care of a child whose parent/parents are working abroad is required to provide the Directorate of Social Assistance with all the data and information they have regarding the address at which the parents abroad can be contacted and to prove that they keep in touch with them.
Also, the parent who exercises sole parental authority or with whom the child lives, who is to leave for work abroad and who lives in the city of Sibiu, is required to notify the Sibiu Directorate of Social Assistance of this intention at least 40 days before leaving the country.
  The notification must mandatorily include the designation of the person who will take care of the child during the parents’ or guardian's (as appropriate) absence.
  Additionally, the parent who exercises sole parental authority or with whom the child lived, who is working abroad, is required to immediately notify the Sibiu Directorate of Social Assistance from the locality where the child is about the designation of the person who will take care of the child during their absence.

In order to support families in the raising and care of 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 parents who are working abroad;

  b) organizes parental education programs aimed at the parent who is taking care of the child after the other parent leaves for work abroad, as well as the persons designated to care for and raise children with parents working abroad, and those who have returned to the country after staying abroad with their parents for more than a year;

  c) organizes quarterly meetings, or as often as necessary, with persons caring for the children, as well as the parent who is taking care of the child after the second parent leaves for work abroad;

  d) facilitates and supports the maintenance of permanent contact between representatives of the educational unit attended by the child and the person in whose care the child was left by the parents;

  e) encourages the parent, or as appropriate, the person in whose care the child was left, and the teaching staff to establish learning agreements, appropriate to their needs, which should explicitly include the goals, expectations, and responsibilities that pertain to the school and the family;

  f) supports the parent, or as appropriate, the person in whose care the child was left, 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 request of the beneficiary;

- following the death of the beneficiary;

- following the change of the degree of disability after reassessment;

- following the change of domicile of the beneficiary to another locality in Sibiu county or another county;

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

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

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

The termination of the allowance is made starting with the month following the one in which the person with severe disability with personal assistant no longer meets the conditions that led to the establishment of the right through the Decree issued by the Mayor of Sibiu Municipality, which will be communicated to the relatives.

The amounts due as monthly allowance and unpaid until the death of the person with severe disability with 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 individuals who wish to be admitted to a home for elderly persons or a medico-social assistance unit, home care services, registration in a club for elderly persons, or to those who wish to benefit from the allowance for informal caregivers and is resolved following the completion of an application to this effect​

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

The procedure establishes the way of carrying out the steps of case management that are the responsibility of the Sibiu Social Assistance Directorate, specifically the staff within the Service for Assistance for People with Disabilities in the situation of children with disabilities and/or SEN from families, who have their domicile or residence within the area of the municipality of Sibiu.

The steps of case management that fall under the responsibility of D.A.S. Sibiu are the following:

a) identification and initial evaluation 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 evaluation 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 drawing up the file for carrying classification in a degree of disability / school and professional orientation, the steps and procedures to obtain these documents.

e) monitoring and periodic re-evaluation of the progress made by the child with disabilities and/or SEN, the effectiveness of benefits, services and interventions, as well as the degree of beneficiary satisfaction;

The social investigation contains data regarding the family context of the child, the quality of the environment for the child's development: housing, food, clothing, hygiene, ensuring physical and mental 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 under the structure of the Sibiu Social Assistance Directorate, accredited as a provider of social services according to the accreditation certificate with series AF and 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) care activities, education, recreation-socialization, counseling, development of independent living skills, school and professional orientation for children, as well as support, counseling, and education activities for parents/legal representatives, as well as for other people caring for children.

The day center for school-aged children also supports parents to cope with psychosocial difficulties affecting family relationships, to develop parental skills, to prevent the separation of the child from their 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 provided to persons in special economic-social or medical situations.

Beneficiaries:

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

b) young people attending daytime classes at educational institutions operating under legal conditions, until graduation, but not exceeding the age of 25, or 26 for those pursuing higher education lasting more than 5 years, who are in the situation provided in item a);

c) persons who benefit from social assistance or other financial aid granted under the law and whose income is up to the monthly net 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: socially isolated, have no legal supporters, have no income;

f) disabled and chronically ill persons;

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

The meal at the social assistance canteen is granted free for persons who have no income or whose income is below the monthly net 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 monthly net income level for a single person, used in calculating social assistance, may benefit from the services of the 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 own responsibility, accompanied by supporting documents regarding the family composition, income earned in the month prior to the submission of the application by its members, and the assets held, including in other administrative-territorial units.

For the social services of the canteen, fit to work persons from the beneficiary family must provide 48 hours per month of actions or works of local interest, without exceeding the normal working regime; 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 justified reasons, for more than three consecutive days at the canteen site to serve or pick up the meal, the right to meal service 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 fishery activities, subject to income tax according to the provisions of Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code, as subsequently amended and supplemented, hereinafter referred to as taxable income, benefit from the insertion incentive for raising a child up to 2 years old, or up to 3 years in the case of a child with disabilities, provided that taxable income is earned.