We are launching a Q&A section, in which lawyers of the Foundation analyze unusual legal issues IDPs face. Every week, we will share an explainer that will help you better understand your rights in the field of social protection.
Our team was compelled to create this section by a story of a client who asked us for legal advice. A family with an IDP father and a local mother recently had a baby. The father applied to the Department of Social Protection to register the child as an IDP in order to be able to receive a living allowance for the child. However, the DoSP refused to accept the application, arguing that the baby should live with his mother, and therefore, the application should be submitted by her. But since the child’s mother is not an IDP, she cannot do this. Thus, the baby did not receive an IDP certificate and an IDP allowance, although the child has the full right to it.
In this series, we explain in which cases children born after the internal displacement of their parents (or one of the parents) are entitled to state living allowance. We will also tell you who, besides mom and dad, can apply for such assistance.
We inform the affected people within the framework of the project Supporting the Capacity of the Social Protection System to Register Internally Displaced Persons, funded by the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine.
QUESTION:
Is it possible to arrange a living allowance for a child who was born to an internally displaced person after displacement?
ANSWER: Yes, under certain conditions.
EXPLANATION
A child can be issued an IDP certificate if the child’s parents (or one of the parents), guardians, or custodians also have such a certificate.
Therefore, if a parent is eligible to receive an IDP living allowance, a request can be made for their child.
PROCEDURE FOR APPLYING FOR ASSISTANCE
The individual whom the child lives with is responsible for applying for the child’s living allowance.
● mother;
● father;
● one of the guardians, custodians, adoptive parents, or foster parents;
● relative (grandmother, grandfather, great-grandmother, great-grandfather, adult brother or sister, aunt, uncle or stepfather, stepmother).
It does not matter whether the father or the mother applies on behalf of the child.
Article 141 of the Family Code of Ukraine: “A father and a mother have equal rights and obligations towards a child, regardless of whether they are married.”
You can submit an application to the social protection authority, administrative service center, or the authorized person of the territorial community or online through the Diia mobile application.
IMPORTANT! The address of the child’s previous residence must coincide with the address of the previous residence of one of the parents who is registered as an IDP.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR STATE ASSISTANCE
According to Procedure 332, three categories of IDPs are eligible for assistance:
1. People who have moved from the territories of Ukraine that are temporarily outside the control of the government of Ukraine or from the territories where armed hostilities are taking place.
2. People whose housing was destroyed or rendered uninhabitable as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, sabotage caused by the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
3. People who, as of March 1, 2022, were receiving monthly targeted assistance to IDPs to cover living expenses.
! You can apply for a child’s allowance if the child:
● was registered as an IDP after February 24, 2022 and his/her certificate contains the address from clause 1 or clause 2;
● was born to an IDP, was registered as an IDP before February 24, 2022, and as of March 1, 2022, was receiving monthly targeted IDP assistance.
Under these conditions, the payment is not subject to refusal.
This article was developed by the Charity Foundation Stabilization Support Services with funding from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The content presented in this publication is exclusively the responsibility of the CO CF SSS and should not be interpreted as representing the viewpoint of the Agency.
The information is current as of April 19, 2023.