Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion

Bulgaria - Social programmes and services for supporting people with disabilities and elderly

Here you will find information on services and programmes for supporting  people with disabilities and elderly people.

The following are described:

  • Home-based services (услуги, предоставяне в дома):
    • Assistant/Personal assistant
    • Domestic social patronage (домашен социален патронаж);
    • Public canteens (обществени трапезарии);
  • Social services (various daily and consultative community-based services as well as community-based social services for residential care to support elderly people and people with disabilities);
  • Specialised institutions (old people's homes and homes for people with disabilities).

It should be noted that in the context of the ongoing social services reform the efforts are directed toward closing down the existing specialised institutions and expanding the network of community-based and home-based social services for elderly people and people with disabilities. The use of social services for residential care is allowed only if the possibilities for supporting the persons through social services in a home environment and in the community have been exhausted. The use of social services for residential care is organised in a way that prevents isolation from the community.

In what situation can I claim?

With regard to improving the access to services in home environment, the specialised social service assistant support is provided under Social services act. The social service assistant support is provided to elderly people above working age who are unable to look after themselves and do not have a degree of reduced working capacity assessed in accordance with the relevant procedure or to children with permanent disabilities and adults with permanent disabilities who are entitled to assistance by another person and who do not receive home care assistance under another law. This ensures access to this service for a certain group of vulnerable people, such as elderly people over 65 with limitations or inability to self-service. The municipality undertakes to organise the provision of assistant support in such a way as to allow the comprehensive provision of the different types of social services in home environment.

Assistant support includes support by an assistant for:

1. self-service;

2. movement and motion;

3. changing and maintaining the position of the body;

4. execution of daily and household activities;

5. communication.

Referrals for use of assistant support financed by the state budget and the municipal budget are made only by the municipality that provides the service.

Other home-based services (for example, delivering meals to people at home and providing care services, such as help with personal or domestic hygiene) and public canteens are local activities financed by the municipalities and the Social Protection Fund of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.

Home-based services are also provided by private providers, as well as under different types of programmes and projects, funded by the State or European Social Fund. The conditions for their provision are different depending on projects’ specifics.

Support in home environment, including through the provision of integrated health and social services for elderly people, persons with disabilities and persons over 65 who are unable to look after themselves, are provided under the procedure “Patronage care for elderly people and persons with disabilities” under the Operational Programme “Human Resources Development” 2014-2020. The “Patronage care” employees supply them with food, medicines and other essential products. The people from the risk groups who do not leave their homes also receive support through the payment of utility bills and through assistance for urgent administrative services.

Specialised institutions are for people who have reached pensionable age based on their period of social insurance cover and old age and for people with a disability established by a territorial expert medical committee of the national expert medical committee. As it has been mentioned above, social services in specialised institutions are provided only after having exhausted the options for providing social services in the community.

Municipalities and private providers provide social services to elderly people and people with disabilities in return for payment. The following persons should not pay for the use of social services that are financed by the State budget: children up to 18; young people aged between 18 and 21 years who have used residential care in accordance with the Child Protection Act until reaching the age of majority; persons who do not have income and deposits.

What conditions do I need to meet?

 Specialised institutions: until entering into force the new mechanism for determining payment of fees for social services, in order to use social services in specialised institutions for people with disabilities or elderly people, you must pay a fee of 70% to 80% of your income depending on the type of the institution or a fee amounting to your actual monthly expenditure.

The amount of the fees for community-based social services varies between 5% and 50% of your income.

The beneficiaries definition of personal assistance under the Personal Assistance Act is detailed under the “Persons with disabilities” chapter of this document.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

Depending on the main groups of activities, the types of social services are as follows:

1. information and counselling;

2. advocacy and mediation;

3. community work;

4. therapy and rehabilitation;

5. training for acquiring skills;

6. support for acquiring occupational skills;

7. day care;

8. residential care;

9. providing shelter;

10. assistant support.

For the provision of State funded social services, a preliminary assessment of the needs of the person is made. Each person has the right to use the generally available (universal) social services without being referred by the Social Assistance Directorate or the municipality and without a preliminary needs assessment.

The referral by the Social Assistance Directorate for the use of specialized social services is made at the request of the person who can apply to the directorate at his current address on the spot or by phone or in writing, including electronically.

For each person, who has expressed a desire to use a specialized social service the referral is carried out by a social worker appointed by the director of the Social Assistance Directorate within 20 days from the application of the desire to use a social service. The social worker proposes a date and place for holding a meeting within three working days from the declaration of the wish for use of a social service as they shall be coordinated with the person.

By 1st January of the year following the adoption of the National Map of Social Services all referrals should be made by Social Assistance Directorate except the referrals for assistance support, provided by municipality in accordance with the Social Services Act. The referral for use of social services for children, parents, families and children’s caregivers as a child protection measure is done in accordance with the Child Protection Act.

Under the domestic social patronage provided by the municipalities you are entitled to:

  • delivery of food to your home;
  • home cleaning;
  • assistance in submitting applications to social benefits departments, health authorities, etc., if you are disabled or seriously ill;
  • assistance in obtaining technical aids for people who are ill or disabled;
  • care assistance such as measuring blood pressure etc., and maintaining social contacts;
  • domestic services: purchase of food and basic necessities, payment of household bills with the user's money;
  • assistance in maintaining personal hygiene, laundry for personal clothing and bed linen;
  • minor repairs to homes and domestic appliances;
  • organisation of cultural events, celebration of personal festivities, trips and excursions.

You can use these services if you submit the required documents to the municipal services covering your residential address. You can stop using  care services for up to 3 months per year without declining them, during which time you will not pay a fee.

Public canteens provide a hot meal for lunch - soup, main course and bread. The food is provided also at home.

Jargon busters

  • TEMC: Territorial Expert Medical Committee.
  • NEMC: National Expert Medical Committee.
  • Social Insurance Period: calculated in hours, months and years. This takes into account the time during which employees have worked full-time if insurance contributions for the remuneration received have been paid or are payable. A minimum insurable income is set for each profession and the period of social insurance cover does not include contributions made below this income except in special circumstances. If you have worked part time, the length of employment for insurance purposes is calculated proportionally on the basis of working hours set out in law. This is 8 hours per day under normal working conditions. Length of service for insurance purposes is different from total length of service.

Know your rights

The laws and web pages of the institutions which determine your rights can be found by following the links below. These are not European Commission pages and do not represent the opinion of the Commission:

European Commission publications:

Who do you need to contact?

Social Assistance Agency

Social Assistance Directorate

National Social Security Institute

Employment Agency

Central office of the National Social Security Institute

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