People who are unable to secure their livelihood or who are unable to secure it sufficiently from their own resources and resources are entitled to subsistence assistance or basic security in old age or in the event of reduced earning capacity.
There is a special need in the event of illness, disability or special social difficulties for which the legislator has provided for social welfare benefits if other social service providers do not have to provide benefits as a priority (e.g. the health insurance fund, the German pension insurance, etc.). These benefits are also available to people who are still able to provide for their own livelihood but are dependent on social welfare benefits due to a special need. The decisive factor is then whether they can reasonably be expected to finance the benefits from income and assets.
The legislature has provided for the following benefits in Book XII OF THE SOCIAL CODE (SGB XII) in addition to assistance for subsistence and basic security in old age or in the event of reduced earning capacity:
- Aids to health
- Integration assistance for people with disabilities
- Help with care
- Assistance in overcoming particular social difficulties
- Help in other life situations (e.g. help to continue the household, care for the elderly, assumption of funeral costs)
The benefits of numbers 1, 3 (only for people over 65 years of age) and 4 and 5 are provided by the responsible local social welfare office.
The responsibility for benefits of integration assistance for disabled people and that for benefits of assistance for care (only for people under the age of 65) lies with the State Welfare Association of Hesse as the supra-local social welfare institution. In addition, the State Welfare Association of Hesse is responsible for the provision of services for the blind in accordance with § 72 SGB XII.
The benefits of integration assistance for disabled people under the subject-matter responsibility of the State Welfare Association of Hesse include in particular:
- Assisted living
- Assisted living with host families
- Inpatient living in a dormitory
- Services in semi-inpatient facilities such as in recognised workshops for disabled people
- Benefits for children and adolescents with physical or mental disabilities in foster families
- Assistance with school education for children with special educational needs
- Medical rehabilitation services in recognised rehabilitation facilities
- Benefits for participation in community life