Support (Care) Service: A Supportive or a General Care Service for Persons with Disabilities?

The support care service has been institutionalised by an amendment of the Act on Social Administration and on Social Benefits in 2001. Prima facie, it seems to be a general care service for persons with disabilities. That seemingly general nature of the support (care) service is examined by our paper. First of all, the regulation on this service is analysed, and it should be stated, that it is a two-sided one: although there are general elements, it focuses mainly on the assistance to the access to basic public services. Secondly, the number of the persons who receive this service is compared with the data of the possible recipients of the service, the number of those persons who are potentially entitled to receive that service. Thus, the supportive nature of this service is dominant: it cannot be interpreted as a general service for the persons with disabilities, it is merely a special service which partially helps providing access to major public services.