People over 65 excluded. There are big reservations about new support from the government

• The Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers (SKRM) has taken up the draft law on personal assistance for persons with disabilities (AOON)
• RCL has reservations about the proposed regulations. It indicates that the group of disabled people aged 65 to 75 will remain outside the scope of the AOON and senior voucher acts.
• MRPiPS responded to the allegations made against the projects

The Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers (SKRM) has begun work on a draft law on personal assistance for people with disabilities. The matter was reported on 8 May by the Government Plenipotentiary for People with Disabilities, Łukasz Krasoń. The solution will enable people with disabilities to benefit from professional support in their daily lives, tailored to their individual needs. At the same time, it is to fulfil the obligations of countries that have ratified the UN Convention.

However, the Infor.pl portal notes that the project completely excludes disabled people over 65 from the scope of support. The Convention, on the other hand, clearly indicates that the states that are parties to it are obliged to recognize the equal rights of all disabled people to live in society, and therefore without differentiating them on the basis of age.

Currently, let us recall, personal assistance is implemented as part of annual programs financed by the Solidarity Fund. Therefore, there is no continuity of support and access to it is limited. Therefore, the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers has begun work on a government draft law on personal assistance for people with disabilities , which is to solve this problem.

However, according to art. 8 item 1 of the draft, only disabled people under the age of 65 will be able to apply for this form of support. After reaching this age - in accordance with art. 8 item 2 of the draft - only people who acquired the right to it before reaching this age limit and only until the expiry of the period for which the decision was issued will be entitled to use assistance.

As Infor.pl pointed out, the Government Legislation Center is against such exclusion of seniors.

- According to Article 3 of the draft law, the purpose of personal assistance is to provide people with disabilities with support enabling them to live independently, in accordance with Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Article 5, paragraph 1 of the Convention emphasizes that all persons are equal before the law and are entitled, without any discrimination, to equal protection and equal benefits of the law, while Article 19 of the Convention states that the States Parties to the Convention recognize the equal right of all disabled people to live in society, without introducing any age-related limitation for disabled people - indicates RCL.

The Legislation Centre also emphasises that this provision of the Convention entails an obligation to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to, among other things, a wide range of home-based, residential and other support services provided within the local community, including personal assistance necessary for a life of inclusion in the community, which will also prevent social isolation and segregation.

It also recalls that the justification for the draft act (p. 11) indicates that a parallel ministerial programme " Personal Assistant for Disabled Persons" will operate (the legal basis for the programme is art. 7 sec. 5 of the Act of 23 October 2018 on the Solidarity Fund), which "will cover seniors to a greater extent in the coming years".

This is expected because people currently using the departmental program will be covered by statutory assistance to a significant extent. In addition, a solution that is to increase the availability of support is the currently processed draft bill on the senior voucher (UA3). Whereby "the senior voucher is to be, in its assumption, a social service of a caring nature, adapted to the needs of people aged 75 or more ".

- Therefore, the group of disabled people aged 65 to 75 will, in principle, remain outside the scope of both draft laws - points out RCL.

However, MRPiPS does not intend to take the submitted comment into account. It argues that:

• Support for people with disabilities and seniors falls within the competence of other local government units (counties and communes, respectively), and therefore "the creation of a single instrument supporting also people aged 65+ could raise certain doubts",
• No other country in the world, including any of the countries that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, allows personal assistance to people who lose their ability after the age of 65, "which is dictated by both substantive and financial considerations",
• The continuation of the programme financed by the Solidarity Fund (editor's note: which, however - as MRPiPS1 itself argues - is carried out in the form of annual programmes, "means a lack of continuity of support, limited access and varying quality of service") allows for ensuring adequate support for people aged 66 to 75,
• Dedicated support programmes are addressed to people over 65 years of age, e.g. the "75+ Care" Programme, as well as the senior voucher currently being processed at the government level, which - according to officially provided information - is ultimately also intended to cover people aged 66-75.

SKRM decided that the Committee members may submit comments on the project until May 13. After completing the work at this level, the document will be submitted to the Council of Ministers for consideration. It is also worth recalling that President Andrzej Duda submitted his own bill on personal assistance to the Sejm a little over a year ago. However, it got stuck in the Social Policy and Family Committee.

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