Changes to DPS. Transferring the property to the family will no longer protect against costs

We are updating the catalog of people who should bear the costs of a social welfare home when its resident cannot pay on their own. It will include people who took over the property from a senior citizen in the last 10 years, Deputy Minister of Family Katarzyna Nowakowska told PAP.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy has submitted a draft amendment to the Social Assistance Act for consultation. According to the ministry, the changes are to be the first stage of system reform.

Deputy Minister Katarzyna Nowakowska said in an interview for PAP that the project includes, among others: changes in fees for staying in a social welfare home.

– We are updating the catalog of people who should bear the costs of a social welfare home when a given person cannot pay on their own. We include people who have signed a life contract with a DPS resident and have undertaken to provide him with care. The directory will also include people who took over the property from a given person in the last 10 years. We want to protect seniors against fraud when they get rid of their apartments and then end up in a social welfare home, said the deputy minister.

She informed that the changes are also intended to ensure that only adults can be sent to nursing homes. Nowakowska emphasized that this is very important because it concerns one of the most sensitive social groups, i.e. children with disabilities.

– I am of the opinion that we have a system that is directed and tailored to the needs of children – it is a system of supporting the family and foster care. It describes support in the form of family care, but also forms of institutional support, such as orphanages, but also regional care and educational facilities – Nowakowska pointed out.

She emphasized that the project assumes the development of supported housing, which in many situations today can be an alternative to staying in a nursing home.

– It is important for us that access to care is wide depending on needs. Support can be provided in the community through care services or in a supported apartment, Nowakowska mentioned.

She recalled that the act currently places greater emphasis on support in social welfare homes.

– We want to at least equalize it so that the person in need has the opportunity to be in their environment as long as possible, as close to their family, friends and neighbors as possible. of course with appropriate support – explained the deputy minister.

She emphasized that care services are now a mandatory task for local governments. – The problem is that almost 300 communes still do not implement them at all. They claim they have no such needs. The approach to the order of receiving support must change, which is why the Act clearly indicates what should happen before a person is sent to a social welfare home. It is also a signal for citizens to be aware that they have the right to other forms of care, Nowakowska noted.

She pointed out that Today, the cost of staying in a social welfare home is on average over PLN 7,000, of which 85% In some cases, local governments pay for the stay of people in nursing homes.

– Therefore, wherever care can be organized differently, in a community-based form, these funds should first be directed to this purpose – emphasized the deputy head of the Ministry of Family.

The project also includes solutions for social assistance workers.

– For example, this means enabling supervision for all social welfare workers, not only social workers. We will introduce safety training standards, and it will also be regulated by law when a raise should be granted for professional promotion. Unfortunately, due to the fact that it is not written down directly now, increases are sometimes postponed until “never” – Nowakowska pointed out.

The deputy head of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy emphasized that the date of entry into force of the changes depends on the course of consultations and inter-ministerial arrangements.

– I would like it to happen this year. Now we are at the consultation stage, we want the project to be presented at a meeting of the Council of Ministers before the holidays, and in the Sejm after the holidays, she said.

The entire interview with Deputy Minister Nowakowska will be published on the PAP website at 5.58

Karolina Kropiwiec (PAP)

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