This chapter gives details of the social benefits and social services provided to people with disabilities and elderly persons who require long-term care.

Long-term care is care given to a person so that he or she can meet his or her normal day-to-day living needs for a period in excess of 60 days.

The social services described are:

• homecare (îngrijire la domiciliu);
• care at day care and rehabilitation centres (îngrijire în centre de zi de asistență și recuperare);
• care at residential centres (îngrijire în centre rezidențiale).

The social benefits described are:

• allowance for disabled persons (indemnizație pentru persoanele cu handicap);
• attendant allowance (indemnizație de însoțitor).

In what situation can I claim?

Long-term care benefits are granted to disabled persons. People with disabilities are persons whose social environment which is not adapted to their physical, sensory, psychiatric, mental and/or associated needs, completely prevents or restricts their equal access to life in society, necessitating protection measures to support their social integration and inclusion.

According to the category and type of disability, a person can receive care at home from a personal assistant (or an attendant allowance granted as an alternative to a personal assistant), care at day centres and ambulatory services in Neuromotor Rehabilitation Centres (CSRNA), or care at residential centres.

Elderly people (persons who have reached the standard retirement age) are entitled to social assistance according to the socio-medical situation and their economic resources. They are entitled to home care, care at day centres and care at residential centres. The needs of the elderly in the situation of total or partial loss of autonomy are established on the basis of the national grid which stipulates the criteria for adherence to degrees of dependence. The criteria for classification into degrees of dependency are based on the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health.

Dependence means the situation of a person who, as a result of the loss of his or her independence due to physical, psychiatric or mental causes, requires significant assistance and/or care in order to carry out his or her basic day-to-day living activities.

What conditions do I need to meet?

Disabled children and adults who meet the following criteria are entitled to long-term care:

• They are either Romanian nationals or nationals of other states or stateless persons who live or are resident in Romania.
• They are classified in a category and type of disability. The categories of disability are: minor, medium, profound and severe. The types of disability are: physical, visual, auditory, deaf-blindness, somatic, mental, psychiatric, HIV/AIDS, combined, rare illnesses.
• They are able to receive the services of a professional personal assistant at the assistant's home; adults with a severe or profound disability must not have living space of their own and must not earn an income that is higher than the average national wage.
• They have been recommended some support services by the Commission for the Evaluation of Disabled Adults.

Persons whose age is above the standard retirement age and who are in one of the following situations are entitled to temporary or permanent care, as applicable:

• They have no family or are not maintained by one or more persons who has or have a duty to maintain them.
• They have no home or any possibility of providing by themselves a place to live.
• They earn no income of their own or their income is not sufficient to provide them with the necessary care.
• They cannot look after themselves or require specialised care.
• They are unable to cover their own socio-medical needs due to an illness or their physical or mental state.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

Home care (îngrijire la domiciliu)

Both people with disabilities and elderly persons who are in need can request personal care services provided at their homes by formal or informal carers.

In order to provide home care to dependent elderly people, local councils can hire care staff by paying for hours, part-time or full-time, depending on the period of care needed.

Spouses and relatives who care for a dependent elderly person can have their monthly working time reduced by half. The local budget will pay their wage entitlements for the other half of their working time.

The community services provided to elderly people at home are:

• basic activities of daily living, mainly: ensuring personal hygiene, dressing and undressing, feeding and hydration, ensuring hygiene of elimination, transferring and mobilising, moving indoors, communication;
• instrumental activities of daily living, mainly: preparing food, shopping, housekeeping and laundry, facilitating outdoor travel, administration and management of property, companionship and socialisation;
• environmental rehabilitation and adaptation services: small improvements, repairs, etc.;
• rehabilitation services: physiotherapy, medical gymnastics, occupational therapy, psychotherapy, psycho-pedagogy, speech therapy, podiatry, etc.;
• medical services in the form of consultations and medical care at home or in health institutions, consultations and dental care, administration of medicines, provision of sanitary materials and medical devices (in accordance with the health insurance law).

Elderly persons who have an income of their own must pay a monthly maintenance contribution if they receive home care. The amounts are set by the local authorities respectively by the social service provider, on an individual basis, following a complex assessment based on the average monthly cost of the social service, as well as the income of the elderly person and, where applicable, of his/her legal representatives.

Adults with a severe visual disability can choose between having a personal assistant and receiving an allowance (described below).

Care at day care and rehabilitation centres (îngrijire în centre de zi de asistență și recuperare)

People with disabilities can receive care services and protection provided at day centres. The latter provide social, medical, educational and other services.

Community services provided to elderly in day care and rehabilitation centres are, as appropriate:

• basic activities of daily living, mainly: ensuring personal hygiene, dressing and undressing, feeding and hydration, ensuring hygiene of elimination, transferring and mobilising, moving indoors, communication;
• instrumental activities of daily living, mainly: preparing food, shopping, housekeeping and laundry, facilitating outdoor travel, administration and management of property, companionship and socialisation;
• rehabilitation services: physiotherapy, medical gymnastics, occupational therapy, psychotherapy, psycho-pedagogy, speech therapy, podiatry, etc.;
• psychosocial counselling and information, legal counselling, socialisation and leisure, organisation and involvement in community and cultural activities, assistance and support for the elderly person's family, support for administrative activities and property management;
• emergency telephone line;
• provision of food, material aid;
• primary and specialist medical services.

Community counselling services are provided free of charge by social workers as a fundamental right of older people.

Care at residential centres (îngrijire în centre rezidențiale)

People with disabilities are also entitled to care services at residential centres. The latter are centres where people with disabilities are accommodated for at least 24 hours. With the exception of crisis centres and sheltered homes, disabled persons are admitted to a residential centre only when they cannot be provided with protection and care in their own home.

People with disabilities who receive care at residential centres must pay a monthly contribution which is RON 900.

Elderly persons in need are entitled to temporary or permanent care at a care home for the elderly, at clubs for the elderly, temporary care homes, social flats and homes, and so on.

The services provided to elderly people in residential centres are:

• social services, consisting of housekeeping help, legal and administrative counselling, ways of preventing social marginalization and social reintegration in relation to psycho-efficacy;
• socio-medical services, consisting of help in maintaining or rehabilitating physical or intellectual capabilities, providing occupational therapy programs, support for the achievement of body hygiene;
• medical services, consisting of consultations and treatments at the medical cabinet, medical institutions or at the person's bed if immobilised, care-infirmary services, insurance of medicines, providing medical devices, dental consultations and care.

The following priority criteria are considered when admitting an elderly person to a care home for the elderly:

• He or she needs special permanent medical care which cannot be provided at home.
• He or she cannot look after himself or herself.
• There are no persons who have a legal obligation to provide them with maintenance, or such persons cannot fulfil their obligations due to the state of their health or financial situation and their family responsibilities.
• He or she has no home and no income of his or her own.

If they earn an income or there are persons who have a legal obligation to provide them with maintenance, elderly persons who receive care at residential centres must pay a monthly maintenance contribution which is set according to the average monthly cost of maintenance set annually by the local and/or county councils, as well as the income of the elderly person and, where applicable, his or her legal representatives.

Allowance for disabled persons (indemnizație pentru persoanele cu handicap)

Regardless of their income, people with disabilities receive a monthly allowance and a monthly complementary personal budget.

The monthly allowance is:

• RON 419 for an adult with a severe disability;
• RON 317 for an adult with a profound disability.

The monthly complementary personal budget is:

• RON 179 for an adult with a severe disability;
• RON 132 for an adult with a profound disability;
• RON 72 for an adult with a medium disability.

The family or statutory representative of a child with a severe, profound or medium disability also receives a complementary personal budget for as long as they care for, look after and maintain the child, equal to:

• RON 359 for a child with a severe disability;
• RON 210 for a child with a profound disability;
• RON 72 for a child with a medium disability.

Allowance as an alternative to the personal assistant (indemnizație de însoțitor)

An adult with a severe disability can choose between having a personal assistant and receiving an allowance. The personal assistant may receive a net salary paid from public funds starting from RON 1,898 per month on the basis of an individual labour contract. The amount of the allowance is RON 1,898 in 2023.

An adult with a severe disability who is also a category I invalidity pensioner can choose between having a personal assistant and receiving an attendant allowance paid from the public pension system, which is equal to 80% of the value of a pension point, i.e. RON 1,428 from January 2023. The entitlement to this allowance is retained after the person moves to an old-age pension.

Applications for long-term care benefits are submitted to the specialist departments of town halls in localities, the authorities of the county where the applicant lives or to the territorial agencies for payment and social inspection, as applicable.

Jargon busters

• Professional personal assistant: certified individual who provides care and protection at his or her own home for an adult with a severe or profound disability who does not have a living space, does not earn income or earns up to the average salary in the economy.
• Complementary personal budget: sets the limits for personal expenditure over the course of 1 month, according to the category of disability, for payment of a radio or television subscription fee, a telephone subscription with included billing pulses and an electricity bill.
• Attendant: person who provides care to a person with disability and has legal rights.

Forms you may need to fill in

• Application for social benefits and concessions for children
• Sample application for provision of care services at the homes of the elderly

Know your rights

The links below give more information about your rights and obligations. These websites do not belong to the European Commission and do not represent the position of the European Commission on the subject concerned:

• Law on protection and promotion of the rights of people with disabilities
• Law on social assistance for the elderly
• Documents necessary for care homes for the elderly

Publications and websites of the European Commission:

• EU Social Security Coordination

Who do you need to contact?

The social assistance departments of the town hall of the locality or authorities of the county in which you live or territorial agencies for payment and social inspection, as applicable.