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Apply for integration assistance for mentally handicapped children and adolescents according to § 35a SGB VIII

Service Description

If your child suffers from a mental disability, you have the possibility to apply for benefits of integration assistance according to the Social Code (SGB) - Eighth Book (VIII).

This is to prevent your child's participation in life in society from being restricted.

Process flow

In order to receive these benefits, you must contact the responsible youth welfare office. A specialist will advise you in the course of a personal interview whether

  • integration assistance according to 35a SGB VIII is possible for your child and/or
  • other or, if necessary, further forms of assistance are possible.

If integration assistance according to § 35a SGB VIII is possible, you must apply for it:

  • Up to the age of 15 the legal representatives must make the application on behalf of the child.
  • From the age of 15 young people can apply for the services themselves. However, this possibility can be restricted in writing by the legal representative (e.g. parents or other guardians).
  • Assistance provided outside the family (inpatient assistance) requires the consent of the legal guardian(s), as they determine the child's place of residence.

The decisive factor for the approval of services is whether the identified disorder is actually a mental disability. For clarification, the youth welfare office obtains an opinion from one of the following persons:

  • Doctor of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy,
  • child and adolescent psychotherapist, a psychotherapist with further training in the treatment of children and adolescents
  • physician or psychological psychotherapist who has special experience in the field of mental disorders in children and adolescents.

Based on this opinion, the youth welfare office decides

  • whether and in what form it will grant the services of the integration assistance and
  • whether other assistance may be necessary.

If the assistance is granted, all parties involved jointly draw up an assistance plan. This plan specifies, among other things

  • what the child's or young person's needs are,
  • which goals are to be achieved by the integration assistance,
  • how long the assistance is to be provided, and
  • which services are to be implemented.

The duration of the integration assistance services depends on the severity of the mental disability. It varies from case to case.

Who should I contact?

Please contact the responsible youth welfare office. The responsibility of the youth welfare office is determined by where you have your habitual residence (district or independent city).

Requirements

  • Children or adolescents are entitled to integration assistance if
    • their mental health is likely to deviate from the condition typical for their age for more than six months and
    • their participation in life in society is therefore impaired or such impairment is to be expected.
  • The (imminent) mental handicap must be confirmed by
    • A physician for child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy,
    • a child and adolescent psychotherapist, a psychotherapist with further training in the treatment of children and adolescents, or
    • a physician or psychological psychotherapist who has special experience in the field of mental disorders in children and adolescents,
    • be confirmed.
  • Your child must not yet be 18 years old

Mental disabilities, unlike other disabilities, are difficult to identify. Therefore, the World Health Organization (WHO) has created an overview of medical diagnoses (ICD) that can be used to describe a mental disability.

Mental disabilities include, for example:

  • psychoses that are not physically justifiable
  • mental disorders as a result of
    • diseases or injuries of the brain
    • seizure disorders or
    • of other diseases or physical impairments
  • Addictive disorders
  • Schizophrenic, delusional and affective disorders
  • Stress and adjustment disorders
  • Neuroses
  • Personality and behavioral disorders

Which documents are required?

  • Application
  • Statement of mental disability issued by a physician or one of the persons listed above.

What are the fees?

The costs for the assistance are borne by the youth welfare office.
The legal guardians may have to contribute to the costs of the assistance according to their financial circumstances.

Legal basis

Author

The text was automatically translated based on the German content.

Technically approved by

Thuringian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports

Professionally released on

17.10.2022

Source: Zuständigkeitsfinder Thüringen (Linie6Plus)

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