Reintegration Assistance

The goal of integration assistance is to enable all children and adults with disabilities to participate in society. Since 2020, it has been legally separated from social assistance and is designed as a modern inclusion benefit. It is particularly relevant for families of employees, as the barriers to receiving this support have been significantly lowered. Core services such as early intervention in special education (until the child starts school) and educational services (e.g., classroom assistants) are generally provided in full, regardless of income or assets. So the parents’ income doesn’t matter here. For services that are not entirely free of charge, high deductibles apply.

Early Intervention

Early detection and early intervention help you get timely support to aid in the development of your child with a disability. This includes both medical and therapeutic interventions and special education support for your child, as well as comprehensive counseling for you as parents. In many places, there are already interdisciplinary early intervention centers—that is, centers where you can receive all of the support mentioned above from a single source.

Childcare Centers

In addition to early intervention, your child with a disability has a legal right to a spot in an inclusive daycare center. The educational and care services offered in kindergartens and other child care facilities have continued to evolve in recent years. In addition to kindergarten, there are a number of other options and types of care, such as inclusive daycare centers or daycare centers with inclusive groups.

School

Inclusive education enables all children—both those with and without special needs—to learn together. Individual abilities and each person’s own learning pace are taken into account. To ensure that they can attend school, children and adolescents with disabilities may require additional assistance on a case-by-case basis when participating in classroom instruction. So-called school companions or integration assistants support children and adolescents with disabilities in their daily school life, address their individual needs, and help them participate fully.

Inpatient Services

If you are unable to provide the necessary level of care and support for your child with a disability at home on a long-term basis, you have the option of placing your child in a residential facility or using day care services. It is also possible to place children under the age of 18 who require care in facilities that provide assistance to people with disabilities for short-term care if, for example, you as parents need a break. These facilities are designed to meet the needs of children and adolescents.

Personal Budget

The personal budget allows a person with a disability to purchase rehabilitation or integration services on their own. To that end, he receives money or vouchers from the social security agency. For you, as the parent of a child with a disability, this means greater freedom in many ways when it comes to choosing service providers and support services, but it also entails more responsibility and planning effort. For example, if you have a larger budget, you must keep track of all expenses and provide supporting documentation for them. When you use volunteers, you act as their employer. However , you can switch back from the personal budget to in-kind benefits at any time, should you wish to do so.

You can submit your application for a personal budget to various service providers. There is the simple budget, which involves only one service provider—such as the youth welfare office—and the cross-agency budget, which involves multiple service providers, such as the health insurance fund, the long-term care insurance fund, and the social assistance agency.

The basis for the application is a target agreement between you and the service provider. It specifies the services to be covered by the personal budget. You will then receive a comprehensive notice detailing the specifics of your child’s personal budget. Your child’s need for assistance is generally reassessed every two years. For more information on this complex topic, please refer to the brochure“The Personal Budget”published by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

Guide Recommendation

We recommend the guidebook“My Child Has a Disability—Here’s What Help Is Available”by the Federal Association for People with Physical and Multiple Disabilities (Bundesverband für körper- und mehrfachbehinderte Menschen e.V.), which contains a wealth of useful information on the topic.