social security - FOD Sociale Zekerheid

Social assistanceWhat if suddenly you are all alone and you are not entitled to any unemployment benefits? Whatif your old-age pension is insufficient? What if you are disabled and you are unable to work?What if you do not receive any family benefits? What if you slip through the 'social security net'?Fortunately, there is a solution! There is an even larger social security net that, in principle, no onecan miss or slip through: social assistance! In fact, social assistance does not belong to socialsecurity in the strict sense, but it is part of the overall social protection for the Belgianpopulation. That is why we want to discuss it further.The purpose of social security is in fact to provide a minimum income to the entirepopulation. That type of assistance is financed with taxes and is not salary-based. Besides, thereare always specific conditions to be met before you can receive social assistance. Every grant of asocial benefit is preceded by a means test. Social assistance consists of the following provisions:- benefits for the disabled;- integration income;- income guarantee for the elderly;- guaranteed family benefits.The following pages give a short description of these provisions. It is important to note that thereare always plenty of exceptions to the general rules and conditions.A. Benefits for disabled personsThe aim of benefits for disabled persons is to grant an income to or to increase the income ofdisabled persons who, due to their handicap, are not or no longer able to provide themselveswith a sufficient income.The application is always filed by the disabled person (or his proxy) in the municipality wherethe disabled person has his main residence.Since 1 July 2006, all applications are made electronically.When the disabled person (or his proxy) visits the municipal administration concerned, theemployee electronically introduces the application directly in the database of the DirectorateGeneral Disabled Persons via a secured internet access. The employee receives theacknowledgement of receipt and the forms (among which the medical forms that have to befilled in by a doctor), pre-completed with the identification data of the disabled person. Thesedocuments are then printed and handed over to the disabled person (or his proxy).The disabled person then has to send all the completed forms back to or hand them in with theDirectorate-general Disabled Persons in order to guarantee the follow-up of the file.For the non-elderly, two benefits can be distinguished:- the income substitution benefit;- the integration allowance.70