The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection announced measures of state support for children and families with children under the "Family" program.
All relevant information related to this program will be available at https://www.familia.gov.md. During a press conference on Wednesday, the head of the department, Marcel Spatari, said that starting from October 1, all parents of children up to 2 years will receive a monthly allowance of 1,000 lei, regardless of whether they are insured or not. This allowance will be paid additionally for the insured, while for the uninsured it will increase from 740 to 1,000 lei. The monthly allowance for raising two or more children born from a single pregnancy also increased - from 370 to 500 lei. As of January 1, 2023, the amount of the one-off allowance for child birth will increase by 864 lei - from 10,068 to 10,932 lei. Also, within the "Family" program, due to financial support of international organizations, starting from September, about 25 thousand beneficiaries will receive assistance of up to 4,000 lei to ensure proper conditions for child rearing, care and treatment of sick child, prevention of any risk situations that could lead to separation of children from parents. This assistance will be provided from September 2022 to September 2023 through territorial structures of social assistance. Marcel Spatari informed that the government has allocated from the state budget nearly 1 billion lei for granting the one-off aid of 1,500 lei to disabled children, those left without breadwinner and other beneficiaries of state social benefits, as well as those who have pensions less than 5,000 lei. This measure will be valid from October 1. Another component of the "Family" program is aimed at getting mothers back to work and enabling them to combine work and personal life. From September 1 of this year, the parent will receive 90% of the average monthly income for the last 12 months, but only until the child is 1 year and 2 months old. Also, parents can be granted a flexible work schedule in order to actively participate in the upbringing of their children. As of September 1, spouses can share paternity leave, and the period during which fathers can request 14 days of paternity leave has been increased from 56 days to 12 months. In addition, a package of legislative changes is being prepared to regulate the activities of family-type mini-care centers for children under the age of 3, which can be established from 2023. Starting next year, state subsidies for alternative child care services, including the opening of crèches at enterprises, are planned to be introduced. Another component of the program is the protection of children at risk and the development of their social assistance services: additional funding will be introduced for 20 new professional services to help parents place this category of children, including refugee children from Ukraine. The monthly allowance for 1,056 children, who are registered at the social service of professional parental assistance and at family-type homes, has been increased to 2,074 lei. They will be valid from September 2022 to September 2023, financed from funds donated by international organizations. From September 2022 to September 2023, 900 new personal assistants for children with severe disabilities and 42 child protection specialists within territorial social assistance structures will be hired. Professional parental assistants, parent-carers, community social workers, specialists in child protection and families at risk, as well as employees of territorial social assistance structures involved in refugee crisis management will receive a monthly financial aid of 1,000 lei. // 21.09.2022 – InfoMarket
