Government Approves Financial Support for People with Disabilities Leaving Care Centres

The Government approved on Thursday the procedure through which adults with severe, pronounced, or moderate disabilities who leave public residential centres will receive financial support for housing and for the transition to independent living. The measure forms part of the deinstitutionalisation reform committed to by Romania under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).

Beneficiaries will be entitled to two types of financial support:

• The housing benefit – granted monthly, up to the national gross minimum wage, to cover household running costs, including utilities.
• The transition benefit – equivalent to two national gross minimum wages, intended to cover costs related to leaving the centre, settling into the community, and any emergency situations arising during the first year following deinstitutionalisation.

The new rules apply to adults with severe, pronounced, or moderate disabilities who are leaving public residential centres as part of the deinstitutionalisation and community integration process. The housing benefit may also be granted to persons at risk of institutionalisation, in accordance with the law.

Support will be provided through the General Directorates for Social Assistance and Child Protection (DGASPC), based on an assessment of each beneficiary's needs and supporting documentation. The procedure also sets out the timescales for reviewing applications, issuing decisions, and making payments.

Why the measure is necessary

The Government explained that many of those leaving residential centres have spent years living in institutions and have no financial resources, no home of their own, no basic possessions, or no experience of managing a household. Without prompt support, they risk social exclusion, accumulating debt, losing their accommodation, or even being reinstitutionalised.

The decision supplements the implementing framework of Law No. 7/2023 on supporting the deinstitutionalisation process and is the final regulatory act required to implement the reform committed to under the NRRP. Its aim is to accelerate the transition of adults with disabilities towards independent living and to prevent reinstitutionalisation.

According to official figures, there are currently 15,903 adults with disabilities living in residential centres. Of these, 5,411 are already included in the deinstitutionalisation and community integration process. The authorities have set a target of reducing the number of people in residential centres to no more than 10,350 by 2030.

Funding for the housing benefit and the transition benefit will come from non-reimbursable external funds during the period 2027–2029, after which the costs will be borne by the state budget.

According to the Government, the measure does not introduce a new funding mechanism, but rather gives effect to benefits already provided for by law, establishing the necessary framework to ensure that people with disabilities leaving the residential system have access to housing and the support required for community integration.