On Social Assistance

Law of Georgia

On Social Assistance

Article 1. Purpose of the Law and Scope of Regulation🔗

1. The purpose of this Law is to ensure fair, targeted and effective assistance to the population by establishing a well-organised system of social assistance.

2. This Law regulates relations related to the receipt of social assistance in the territory of Georgia, determines the administrative bodies authorised in the field of social assistance, and establishes the types of social assistance and the basic principles of its granting.

Article 2. Scope of Application of the Law🔗

This Law applies to persons permanently residing in Georgia on a lawful basis who are in need of special curatorship, to destitute families and to homeless persons, unless otherwise provided by this Law.

Article 3. Legislation on Social Assistance🔗

The legislation on social assistance consists of the Constitution of Georgia, international treaties and agreements of Georgia, this Law, and other legislative and subordinate normative acts of Georgia.

Article 4. Definition of terms🔗

Terms used in this Law have the following meaning:

a) beneficiary – recipient of social assistance;

b) shelter – a social service provider that provides homeless persons with night accommodation and food;

c) reintegration – return of a person placed in a specialised institution to live in their biological family, with a guardian (curator);

d) foster parent – foster mother/foster father who, on the basis of a contract concluded with the State, ensures that a person with special care needs who is not a member of their family lives with them and is cared for by them;

e) Minister – the Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Protection of Georgia;

f) authorised representative of the family – an adult, capable member of the family or a person trusted by the family who applies to the competent body requesting social assistance and maintains relations with it;

g) Agency – a service within the system of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Protection of Georgia;

h) Ministry – the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Protection of Georgia;

i) social assistance – any type of benefit, in monetary or non-monetary form, intended for a person with special care needs, a poor family or a homeless person;

j) social assistance system – a set of measures financed, organised and/or implemented under the supervision of the State, aimed at improving the socio-economic situation of a person with special care needs, a poor family or a homeless person;

k) social service – an activity the purpose of which is to meet the specific needs of a person with special care needs, a poor family or a homeless person through non-monetary social assistance;

l) social service provider – an administrative body, natural or legal person that, in accordance with the procedure established by legislation, ensures the provision of social services;

m) social worker – a person with special powers of the guardianship and curatorship body;

n) persons with special care needs:

n.a) orphans and children deprived of parental care;

n.b) a person with disabilities;

n.c) an adult deprived of family care, with limited ability for self-care;

n.d) a person who has lost a breadwinner;

n.e) a homeless child;

o) prevention – a set of measures aimed at protecting the priority right of a person to be raised in a family environment and avoiding his/her recognition as deprived of parental care;

p) homeless person – a person without a permanent, defined place of residence who is registered in the municipality as homeless;

q) poor family – a person or group of persons permanently residing in a separate living space, who carry on joint household activity and whose socio-economic status indicator is below the level established by the Government of Georgia;

r) assessment system – a system by means of which the socio-economic status of a family is assessed and its level of well-being is determined;

s) foster care − a form of state care close to family care, aimed at the care and upbringing of a foster child and carried out on the basis of a contract concluded between the state and the foster parent;

t) foster child – a person transferred to a foster parent for foster care on the basis of a contract concluded between the state and the foster parent;

u) household activity – activity directed to the benefit of the family, which provides for the joint use of the place of residence, its maintenance, the acquisition of the means of subsistence necessary for the family and their joint management and distribution;

v) person with limited capabilities status – a person who has been granted such status in accordance with the Law of Georgia “On Medical-Social Expertise”;

w) person who has lost a breadwinner – the child (children) of one or both deceased parents until reaching the age of 18;

x) homeless child − a minor living on the street and/or a minor working on the street, who is identified as such by a social worker with the relevant authority, in accordance with child protection referral procedures.

Law of Georgia of 18 December 2009 No. 2386-LHG I, No. 50, 31.12.2009, Art. 403

Law of Georgia of 16 July 2010 No. 3441-LHG I, No. 42, 22.07.2010, Art. 265

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012

Law of Georgia of 22 June 2016 No. 5447 – website, 12.07.2016

Law of Georgia of 4 May 2017 No. 747 – website, 24.05.2017

Law of Georgia of 5 July 2018 No. 3082 – website, 11.07.2018

Law of Georgia of 15 July 2020 No. 6889 – website, 28.07.2020

Article 5. Basic principles of the Law🔗

The basic principles of this Law are:

a) recognition of social assistance as state support based on a needs assessment, but not as an unconditional right guaranteed by law;

b) through the social assistance system, targeted redistribution of appropriate resources to persons with special care needs, poor families and homeless persons;

c) promotion of the development of alternative types of social services.

Article 6. Types of social assistance🔗

The types of social assistance are:

a) subsistence allowance;

b) reintegration allowance;

c) remuneration for foster care;

d) remuneration for family curatorship of an adult;

e) non-monetary social assistance;

f) social package.

Law of Georgia of 16 July 2010 No. 3441-LHG I, No. 42, 22.07.2010, Art. 265

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012

Article 7. Subsistence allowance🔗

1. A household has the right to request a subsistence allowance.

2. A subsistence allowance is monetary social assistance intended to improve the socio-economic situation of poor households identified by the assessment system.

3. The amount of the subsistence allowance shall be determined by the Government of Georgia.

4. The procedure and conditions for the granting, suspension, resumption and termination of the subsistence allowance, as well as other relations connected with its payment, shall be regulated by an Order of the Minister.

Article 8. (repealed)🔗

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012

Article 9. Reintegration allowance🔗

1. A household has the right to request a reintegration allowance.

2. A reintegration allowance is monetary social assistance granted to the biological family of a person with special care needs, or to a guardian (curator), who takes that person out of a specialised institution to live in a family environment and provides him/her with appropriate care.

3. The amount of the reintegration allowance shall be determined by the Government of Georgia.

4. The procedure and conditions for the granting, suspension, resumption and termination of the reintegration allowance, as well as other relations connected with its payment, shall be regulated by an Order of the Minister.

Article 10. Remuneration for foster care🔗

1. Remuneration for foster care is monetary social assistance granted to a foster parent for the maintenance and upbringing of a foster child.

2. The amount of the remuneration for foster care shall be determined by the Government of Georgia.

3. The procedure and conditions for the granting, suspension, resumption and termination of the remuneration for foster care, as well as other relations connected with its payment, shall be regulated by an Order of the Minister.

Law of Georgia of 18 December 2009 No. 2386-LHG I, No. 50, 31.12.2009, Art. 403

Law of Georgia of 16 July 2010 No. 3441-LHG I, No. 42, 22.07.2010, Art. 265

Law of Georgia of 4 May 2017 No. 747 – website, 24.05.2017

Article 11. Remuneration for family curatorship of an adult🔗

1. Remuneration for family curatorship of an adult is monetary social assistance granted to a person who takes an adult out of a specialised institution to live in a family environment and provides him/her with appropriate care.

2. The amount and frequency of payment of the remuneration for family curatorship of an adult shall be determined by the Government of Georgia.

3. The procedure and conditions for the granting, suspension, resumption and termination of the remuneration for family curatorship of an adult, as well as other relations connected with its payment, shall be regulated by an Order of the Minister.

Article 12. Non-monetary social assistance🔗

1. A person with special curatorship needs may be a recipient of non-monetary social assistance.

2. For the purposes of prevention and reintegration, non-monetary social assistance may also be provided to a child and/or their family, when the situation in the family is a substantiated precondition for the child being recognised as deprived of care, or to a child deprived of care in order to ensure their living in a family environment.

3. The types of non-monetary social services, as well as the criteria for assessing the situation in the family, by means of which the risk indicator for the child being recognised as deprived of care is determined, shall be defined by order of the Minister.

Law of Georgia of 18 December 2009 No. 2386-LHG I, No. 50, 31.12.2009, Art. 403

Article 12¹. Social package🔗

1. The social package is a monthly monetary benefit and/or a set of benefits (monetary and non-monetary benefits), the amount, circle of recipient persons, procedure and conditions for granting of which shall be determined by a Resolution of the Government of Georgia.

2. In accordance with this Law, the grounds for granting a social package are:

a) establishment of the status of limited capabilities;

b) death of the breadwinner.

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012

Article 12². Amount of the social package for persons with limited capability status and the rules and conditions of calculation🔗

1. The amount of the social package for persons with limited capability status shall be determined in accordance with the rules and conditions of calculation established by this Law.

2. The amount of the social package for persons with limited capability status shall be determined as the amount of the basic social package determined by the relevant legal act of the Government of Georgia, increased by:

a) for persons with severely pronounced limited capability status and children with limited capability status — by the sum of 80 per cent of the arithmetic mean of the real growth rates of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the last 6 quarters and the average inflation rate of the last 12 months, but not less than GEL 25;

b) for all other categories of persons with limited capability status — by the average inflation rate of the last 12 months, but not less than GEL 20.

3. If the amount of the social package increased in accordance with the rule established by paragraph 2 of this Article is less than a multiple of 5, the amount of the social package shall be rounded up to the nearest multiple of 5.

4. The amount of the social package shall be increased in accordance with the rule established by this Article from the very first month of the respective budget year, which shall be reflected in the relevant legal act of the Government of Georgia.

5. The Government of Georgia is entitled to establish the increased amount of the basic social package calculated in accordance with the principles provided for by paragraph 2 of this Article.

6. For the purposes of this Article:

a) the inflation rate shall be determined as the 12-month average consumer price index, as compared with the average consumer price index of the previous 12 months, as provided for by the official data published by the Legal Entity of Public Law — the National Statistics Office of Georgia, at the moment of submission by the Government of Georgia to the Parliament of Georgia of the draft Law of Georgia on the State Budget of Georgia for the respective year, on the basis of Articles 38 and 39 of the Budget Code of Georgia, rounded to the nearest tenth;

b) the real growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP) shall be determined as the real growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP) in a quarter, as compared with the real growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, as provided for by the official data published by the Legal Entity of Public Law — the National Statistics Office of Georgia, at the moment of submission by the Government of Georgia to the Parliament of Georgia of the draft Law of Georgia on the State Budget of Georgia for the respective year, on the basis of Articles 38 and 39 of the Budget Code of Georgia, rounded to the nearest tenth.

Law of Georgia of 1 December 2022 No. 2277 – website, 14.12.2022.

Article 13. Specialized institution🔗

1. A specialized institution is a natural or legal person that provides social services to persons with special care needs throughout the day and night or/and for a specified period of the day and night, except for a general education institution with boarding services.

2. A specialized institution/an employee of a specialized institution may not be a person convicted of a crime against sexual freedom and inviolability provided for by the Law of Georgia "On Combating Crimes against Sexual Freedom and Inviolability", regardless of the removal or expungement of the criminal record.

Law of Georgia of 16 July 2010 No. 3441-LHG I, No. 42, 22.07.2010, Art. 265

Law of Georgia of 17 March 2020 No. 5764 – website, 23.03.2020

Article 14. Placement of a person in a specialized institution🔗

1. The decision on the placement of a person in a specialized institution for full state maintenance or with co-financing, as well as on the placement of a minor in a round-the-clock specialized institution, shall be taken by the competent body.

2. The competent body may be a municipal body which, within the scope of its competence, ensures the financing (co-financing) of the placement of a person in a specialized institution, or the guardianship and curatorship body.

3. An application for the placement of a person in a specialized institution, unless otherwise provided by the legislation of Georgia, shall be made on the basis of a written application of the interested party defined by paragraph 4 of this Article.

4. The interested party may be:

a) a person wishing to be placed in a specialized institution;

b) a family member of the person to be placed in a specialized institution or an authorized representative of that family;

c) a municipal body, if the person wishing to be placed in a specialized institution lives alone and is unable to submit the application independently;

d) a court;

e) the guardianship and curatorship body.

5. Relations arising in connection with the placement of a found child in a specialized institution shall be regulated by Order of the Minister.

6. The procedure and conditions for the placement of a person in a specialized institution, as well as for his/her removal from that institution, and the powers of the competent bodies shall be determined by Order of the Minister.

Law of Georgia of 18 December 2009 No. 2386-LHG I, No. 50, 31.12.2009, Art. 403

Law of Georgia of 15 July 2020 No. 6889 – website, 28.07.2020

Article 15. Financing and co-financing of a specialized institution🔗

1. The sources of financing of a specialized institution may be the State Budget of Georgia, the budgets of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Adjara, the budgets of municipalities and/or other sources provided for by the legislation of Georgia.

2. (removed).

3. (removed).

4. The rule and conditions for financing (co-financing) of the placement of a person in a specialized institution shall be determined by a Resolution of the Government of Georgia.

Law of Georgia of 18 December 2009 No. 2386-LHG I, No. 50, 31.12.2009, Art. 403

Law of Georgia of 15 July 2020 No. 6889 – website, 28.07.2020

Article 16. Competences and rights and obligations of the Ministry🔗

1. The Ministry:

a) regulates and coordinates the functioning of the social assistance system;

b) monitors the effectiveness of social assistance;

c) develops the methodology for assessing the social and economic situation of a family, which shall be approved by a Resolution of the Government of Georgia;

d) develops child care standards, which shall be approved by a Resolution of the Government of Georgia;

e) where necessary, establishes legal entities of public law, including specialized institutions, approves their regulations (statutes) and appoints persons authorized to represent them;

f) collects and analyses information on social assistance provided by municipal bodies;

g) exercises other powers determined by the legislation of Georgia.

2. When implementing social programmes in the territories of municipalities and of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Adjara, the relevant bodies of the municipality and of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Adjara, the Ministry and/or the Agency shall, as necessary, ensure the mutual accessibility of the data at their disposal on beneficiaries, in a mutually agreed format.

Law of Georgia of 15 July 2020 No. 6889 – website, 28.07.2020

Article 17. Competences and rights and obligations of the Agency🔗

Within the scope of the competence conferred on the Agency by this Law and the statute:

a) (removed - 09.06.2021, No. 608);

b) (removed - 09.06.2021, No. 608);

c) maintains the unified database of socially vulnerable families living in the country and, for the purpose of protecting human social rights and freedoms and monitoring the effectiveness of social assistance, ensures the publicity of information on families receiving the subsistence allowance;

d) maintains the unified register of homeless persons registered in the municipality;

e) ensures the administration of the relevant monetary social assistance;

e¹) is entitled, in correspondence and in its activities, to use the relevant software, automated management tools and an electronic document management system. At the same time, any notification or other document sent in electronic form shall be deemed delivered upon its receipt by the addressee;

f) (removed);

g) exercises other powers determined by the legislation of Georgia.

Law of Georgia of 26 December 2008 No. 884 - LHG I, No. 40, 29.12.2008, Art. 288

Law of Georgia of 18 December 2009 No. 2386-LHG I, No. 50, 31.12.2009, Art. 403

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012

Law of Georgia of 21 April 2017 No. 663 - website, 10.05.2017

Law of Georgia of 15 July 2020 No. 6889 – website, 28.07.2020

Law of Georgia of 9 June 2021 No. 608 – website, 14.06.2021

Article 18. Competences and rights and obligations of municipal bodies🔗

The executive bodies of the municipality:

a) participate in the assessment system in the manner established by the legislation of Georgia;

b) provide homeless persons with shelter;

c) carry out the registration of persons in the shelter;

d) ensure access for the Agency to information on registered homeless persons.

Law of Georgia of 15 July 2020 No. 6889 – website, 28.07.2020

Article 19. Competent bodies in the field of social assistance in the territories of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Adjara🔗

1. The respective bodies of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Adjara carry out the following activities in the field of social assistance:

a) collection and analysis of information on assistance provided by the state bodies of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Adjara to families living in the territories of the Autonomous Republics, and access thereto for the Ministry;

b) maintenance of the register of homeless persons and access to the relevant information for the Ministry.

2. The transfer of the functions of the guardianship and curatorship body to the respective bodies of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Adjara shall be permissible by a Resolution of the Government of Georgia.

Article 20. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia of 26 December 2008 No. 884 - LHG I, No. 40, 29.12.2008, Art. 288

Law of Georgia of 18 December 2009 No. 2386-LHG I, No. 50, 31.12.2009, Art. 403

Article 21. Obligations of Beneficiaries🔗

1. A person (family) seeking the social assistance provided for by this Law and a beneficiary shall observe the rights and obligations provided for by the relevant legislation.

2. When receiving the reintegration allowance, the obligations of the biological family shall be determined by a contract concluded between the State and the biological family, on the basis of which this family assumes the obligation to protect the rights of the child and to provide it with proper care.

3. In the event of a violation of the terms of the contract when receiving the reintegration allowance, the biological family shall lose the right to receive the monetary social assistance determined by this Law for the period determined by the legislation of Georgia, while the matter of the reintegrated child shall be resolved with priority protection of the child's interests.

Article 22. General Principles of Appeal🔗

1. A person shall have the right to apply to a court for the protection of his/her rights and freedoms.

2. (was declared invalid - Judgment of the Constitutional Court of Georgia of 27 August 2009 No. 1/2/434 - LHG IV, No. 60, 03.09.2009, p. 1)

Judgment of the Constitutional Court of Georgia of 27 August 2009 No. 1/2/434 - LHG IV, No. 60, 03.09.2009, p. 1

Article 23. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia of 18 December 2009 No. 2386-LHG I, No. 50, 31.12.2009, Art. 403

Article 24. Sources of Financing of Social Assistance🔗

1. The sources of financing of social assistance are:

a) the State Budget of Georgia;

b) the budgets of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Adjara;

c) the budgets of municipalities;

d) the amount paid by the beneficiary or his/her representative;

e) donations;

f) other sources permitted by the legislation of Georgia.

2. The main source of financing of monetary social assistance is the State Budget of Georgia.

3. The respective bodies of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Adjara and of municipalities are entitled, in accordance with the types of social assistance determined by this Law, to additionally finance, in their area of activity, the social assistance determined by this same Law.

Law of Georgia of 15 July 2020 No. 6889 – website, 28.07.2020.

Article 25. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia of 26 December 2008 No. 884 - LHG I, No. 40, 29.12.2008, Art. 288

Law of Georgia of 18 December 2009 No. 2386-LHG I, No. 50, 31.12.2009, Art. 403

Article 26. Measures to be taken in connection with the entry into force of the Law🔗

1. In connection with the entry into force of this Law, the household-communal service benefits provided for by subparagraph "c" of paragraph 1 of Article 14, subparagraph "c" of Article 15, subparagraph "c" of paragraph 2 of Article 16 and subparagraph "b" of Article 17 of the Law of Georgia "On Veterans of War and Military Forces" shall be declared invalid.

2. (Removed – 24.04.2012, No. 6061).

3. The Ministry, together with the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, shall ensure the approval of child care standards within 3 months from the entry into force of this Law.

4. (Removed).

5. Before 1 January 2009, the care and out-of-school care institutions for orphaned and parentally deprived and/or children with limited abilities, founded as legal entities of public law in accordance with the Law of Georgia "On General Education", shall be considered legal entities of public law founded under this Law, and the Minister of Labour, Health and Social Protection of Georgia shall ensure the approval of the regulations (statutes) of these institutions, the exercise of state control and the appointment of persons authorized to represent them.

6. (Removed).

7. (Removed).

8. (Removed).

9. In order to regulate the organizational, technical and legal issues arising in connection with the transfer of the function of guardianship and curatorship to the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Protection of Georgia, with the aim of maintaining the continuity of the process, the Government of Georgia is entitled to issue a corresponding legal act.

10. If the Ministry has carried out the reorganization of the institutions founded under paragraph 5 of this Article, then the institution (institutions) created as a result of the reorganization shall be considered licensed for the purposes of the Law of Georgia "On Licensing of the Activity of Educational and Care Institutions".

11. By order of the Minister, the founding/reorganization/liquidation of specialized institutions under the state control of the Ministry and existing within its system in the form of a legal entity of public law (regardless of the time and act of founding of these legal entities of public law), the approval of the regulation and the appointment/dismissal of a person authorized to represent may be carried out.

12. (Removed - 22.06.2016, No. 5447).

Law of Georgia of 26 December 2008 No. 884 - LHG I, No. 40, 29.12.2008, Art. 288

Law of Georgia of 1 December 2009 No. 2169-LHG I, No. 42, 10.12.2009, Art. 307

Law of Georgia of 18 December 2009 No. 2386-LHG I, No. 50, 31.12.2009, Art. 403

Law of Georgia of 16 July 2010 No. 3441-LHG I, No. 42, 22.07.2010, Art. 265

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012

Law of Georgia of 22 June 2016 No. 5447 - website, 12.07.2016

Article 26¹. Legalization of over-issued subsistence allowance and social package🔗

1. The subsistence allowance and social package over-issued before 1 April 2021 shall be considered legalized and shall not be subject to return.

2. Administrative, court and enforcement proceedings shall be terminated in cases concerning the return of the subsistence allowance and social package legalized by paragraph 1 of this article.

3. The amounts of the subsistence allowance and social package withheld before 1 April 2021, as well as amounts paid into the State Budget of Georgia in any other form by a person having the corresponding debt due to the over-issuance of the subsistence allowance and social package, shall not be subject to return.

Law of Georgia of 2 April 2015 No. 3436 – website, 08.04.2015.

Law of Georgia of 22 December 2016 No. 197 – website, 29.12.2016.

Law of Georgia of 9 June 2021 No. 608 – website, 14.06.2021.

Article 27. Entry into force of the Law🔗

1. This Law, except for Articles 6, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, subparagraph „e“ of Article 16, Articles 17, 19 and paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 21, shall enter into force from 1 January 2007.

2. Articles 6, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15 of this Law, subparagraph „e“ of Article 16, Articles 17, 19 and paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 21 shall enter into force from 1 September 2008.

President of Georgia

M. Saakashvili

Tbilisi,

29 December 2006.

No. 4289–rs