People with Disabilities Can Have Personal Assistants: Program Set to Expand

The list of beneficiaries for the personal assistant program designed for people with disabilities will be expanded. Notably, the service was implemented in the country starting January 1, but 2023 saw a pilot program for the personal assistant service.

During today's government meeting, Armenia's Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Narek Mkrtchyan, proposed specific changes for the effective implementation of the program, reminding attendees that the initiative aims to support people with disabilities in living independently and integrating into their communities.

According to previously existing regulations, only individuals with severe functional limitations due to mobility, visual, or mental health issues, whose families were registered in the poverty assessment system with a poverty score of over 10, were eligible for the service.

The ministry is suggesting an expansion of the program, establishing that individuals over the age of 15 with severe disabilities in visual, auditory, and intellectual areas can benefit from the service. Individuals with moderate intellectual limitations may also apply.

Furthermore, there will no longer be a requirement for applicants to be registered in the benefits system to qualify for having a personal assistant.

“A person with a disability can also nominate their preferred candidate as a personal assistant (which can be a friend, but not someone they live with). If there is no such candidate, the selection will be made from trained candidates available through the online platform of the Unified Social Service,” the minister explained.

The cost of providing this service will be 1,050 AMD per hour, including taxes. He noted that there are currently 57 registered trained candidates, who, by the way, are also registered in the benefits system and are unemployed.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan suggested further expanding the program to consider family members living under the same roof as the person with a disability as potential candidates for personal assistants. However, it was stipulated that they can only become personal assistants after undergoing training and acquiring the necessary caregiving skills.