Support for families with children with disabilities: are the intentions being realized?

In 2025, several benefits are planned for individuals with disabilities and children with special needs, including financial support from the state. However, existing assistance programs for families raising children with disabilities have proven to be insufficient from both an economic and a social point of view.

This topic was raised by Danylo Getmantsev, the chairman of the Finance Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, in an interview. He noted that there are about 160 thousand families with children with disabilities in Ukraine. At the same time, society does not pay enough attention to the difficulties that such families face – many parents are forced to sacrifice the opportunity to work and rest, constantly taking care of their children.

“Children need constant care, and one or both parents are forced to give up work. This creates a vicious circle: they cannot work to earn additional funds to support the child, but they cannot support it without money,” Getmantsev emphasized.

To improve the situation, he proposed that the state implement three main support measures for such families:

1. Increase financial assistance for the maintenance of children to the level of the real subsistence minimum (about 8,000–9,000 UAH) and additionally introduce compensation for income losses for parents.
2. Introduce assistant programs that will provide families with support in nutrition, temporary care, and transportation of children.
3. Introduce services for the adaptation and socialization of children.

The third point involves the creation of specialized educational institutions where parents can leave their children for a day under the supervision of social workers, allowing them to earn a living. The state is called upon to provide professional care in such institutions.

Hetmantsev noted that without the implementation of these measures, parents may be forced to send their children to boarding schools. “We must do everything possible so that parents can live with their children and so that children have a full-fledged childhood, despite their difficulties,” he added.