The state will study the proposal for recognizing parents as caregivers of children with disabilities, under conditions and specific criteria, according to the Minister of Labor, Giannis Panagiotou. Children with disabilities who are beneficiaries of the Minimum Guaranteed Income (MGI) and care allowance from the MGI are not entitled to declare their parents as caregivers. In most cases, one of the two parents does not work because they are responsible for caring for their child.
Andreas Apostolou, MP of EDEK, submitted a question to the Ministry of Labor whether there is an intention to revise this regulation. In response, the minister notes that the issue falls within the Minimum Guaranteed Income and General Laws on Social Benefits (Needs for Home Care of Persons with Disabilities) decree of 2017 (L.D.P. 365/2017).
Specifically, he informs that the provider or providers of home care services are chosen by the beneficiary, according to their individual needs and preferences. Therefore, he points out, in the letter sent by the Department of Social Integration of Persons with Disabilities to the citizen for home care, it is mentioned that the beneficiary may choose the care provider who can be:
- an approved home caregiver who is registered or will be registered in the Preliminary Catalog or Registry of Approved Home Caregivers of Social Welfare Services (YKE),
- a domestic worker (foreign caregiver).
According to the minister, since relatives of the 1st and 2nd degree are not allowed to register as caregivers in the preliminary YKE list, the assumption of care for children by parents is made by exception with the approval of the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare.
It is noted that there are several cases where a parent has been declared as the caregiver of a child with disabilities and the relevant allowance is paid by the Social Welfare Benefits Management Service to the parent approved as the caregiver.
According to Mr. Panagiotou, in the context of preparing new legislation for social benefits and services for people with disabilities by the Ministry of Social Welfare, concerning the funding of home care services, the possibility of recognizing informal care will be studied and subject to consultation, under conditions and specific criteria.
It is noted that the recognition of the father or mother of a child with disabilities (who, due to the nature of the child’s disability, cannot work) as the caregiver of the child itself was proposed by AKEL, causing various reactions.
