The Patronus Project finalises list of benefits for families with disabled children

25.02.2020

The final document showing all the updated benefits that families of disabled children will be able to claim will be released to NGOs in March.  The registration process has already started.

‘Patronus’ is a children’s rights project.  It has recently updated the document showing the federal and local (Moscow region) benefits available for covering the cost of caring for disabled children.  The document also gives details about how the benefits should be used.  The authors of the project noted: ‘It is very unusual for all the information regarding benefits and rights to be found in one place.’

‘Even the Moscow government is using it’

Natalia Kudryavtseva, a lawyer and board member of the Moscow City Association for the Parents of Disabled Children (MGARDI) gave her reaction on the Mercy portal; she wrote that prior to Patronus it had been impossible to find all the necessary information about benefits in one place.  She added: ‘Even the Moscow administration has been using it.’

Patronus staff are distributing the list to regional prosecutors and social care and health care authorities, and they are holding meetings with families with disabled children.  NGOs involved in caring for the disabled are also using the document.

How does the document help NGOs?

Kudryatseva explains that NGO staff are using the document to deal with enquiries.  One of the advantages is that the NGOs no longer need to set up a contact database because ‘any information they need can be provided free of charge by the government.’

The document will be supplied to NGO staff on meetings set for 18 March and 20 May 2020. Registration for the March meetings is already open. Thereafter the document will be made available to the general public.

The authors of the document write:  “We are inviting all representatives of patient groups, charities and NGOs caring for the disabled to come and meet us and discuss the rights of the disabled and the benefits they are entitled to claim.  You are sure to find out about benefits that you had not previously heard of.  After our meeting you will be able to relay the information to the parents of disabled children.  You will also have a much better understanding of the government’s support system and will be in a better position to exercise fully the rights of disabled children.” 

Under the Patronus project there are now plans to create a separate list explaining the rights and benefits for adults with disabilities under categories 1, 2 and 3.  Parents who have disabled children within a large family will be eligible for additional benefits.  The authors are currently preparing fresh material for doctors and student-doctors concerning the legal aspects of disability.

Source: https://www.asi.org.ru/news/2020/02/25/lgoty-deti-s-invalidnostyu/