Draft Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Social Assistance

MR IVAILLO CALFIN
DEPUTY MINISTER - CHAIRMAN
ON DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL POLICY
MINISTER OF LABOR AND SOCIAL POLICY 
AND CHAIRMAN OF
THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR TRILATERAL COOPERATION

REGARDING: draft Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Social Assistance

DEAR MR CALFIN,

The Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria generally supports the proposed changes aimed at improving the regulatory framework in the field of social services.

We support the intention of the drafters of the bill to bring the regulations related to the registration and licensing of the persons who can provide social services in accordance with the Law on the Limitation of Administrative Regulation and Administrative Control over Economic Activity (ZOARAKSD) and the changes related to improving of access to social services, guaranteeing users' rights, applying an individual approach and a comprehensive assessment of needs.

In this regard, the proposed changes concerning the legal regulation of the provisions concerning the conditions and procedure for registration or licensing of the persons who can provide social services for adults and for children up to 18 years of age is extremely timely and is accepted with the approval of the experts at KRIB.

We fully support the proposed changes, which provide for the exchange of information between the State Agency for Child Protection and the Social Assistance Agency to be carried out in an official way, as well as the elimination of the need for publicly available documents, through the Commercial Register database, to be presented by suppliers . The proposed changes in this direction are fully in line with our repeated request to reduce the administrative burden for businesses and provide one-stop service.

We consider the introduction of the principle of applying an individual approach to the user, the mandatory preparation of an individual support plan for individuals in the provision of social services and the stated desire to seek opportunities for the reintegration of individuals and the prevention of their permanent institutionalization as measures in the right direction.

We welcome the move by the proponent to streamline procedures and incentivize providers to provide social services, as well as the measures taken to improve fee collection through the proposed rule changes.

With respect,
Eugene Ivanov
Ex. director