Accommodation

Accommodation services are aimed at providing intensive care to the beneficiary and enabling them to meet their basic needs when this is impossible to achieve within their family or through other social services

Accommodation services are aimed at providing intensive care to the beneficiary and enabling them to meet their basic needs when this is impossible to achieve within their family or through other social services.

Accommodation services encompass the provision of housing and organised activities throughout the day, with constant expert and other type of assistance and support, in order to fulfil basic and additional everyday needs of beneficiaries which cannot be fulfilled within the family.

Accommodation may also include preparing the beneficiary for the return to their family, foster family or for independent life, or the child for adoption.

The right to accommodation services may be granted to a beneficiary for all days of the week or during five working days.

Obstacles to granting accommodation services

Accommodation services cannot be granted to persons:

• who have entered into a lifelong support agreement or a support until death agreement, except in the case of initiating proceedings for the termination, nullification or annulment of the agreement
• who are being cared for and assisted by their family members
• who are being cared for and assisted through home attendance services
• who have been provided with care within the primary healthcare system to a sufficient extent, scope and intensity or
• who have been provided assistance and care through various programmed activities to a sufficient extent, scope and intensit

Accommodation in crisis situations

The right to accommodation services in crisis situations (life-threatening situations or situations threatening the health or well-being of a person) is granted to:

• children without adequate parental care
• children or young adults with behavioural issues
• children found wandering
• unaccompanied foreign or stateless children
• children whose parents are temporarily unable to care for them due to illness, unresolved housing issues or other hardships
• pregnant women or parents with a child under the age of one, without housing or a place to live, or who cannot stay in the family with their child due to dysfunctional family relations
• victims of domestic violence
• victims of human trafficking
• a person who finds himself outside the place of residence or residence or who has no place of residence or residence and is unable to take care of himself
• person at risk due to illness, infirmity, dependence, social exclusion or other circumstances
• homeless persons. 

Accommodation services in crisis situations are granted to beneficiaries until conditions are met for their return to their own family or a foster family, or until accommodation is provided in another manner, and in any case, they are granted for a period up to six months.
Exceptionally, accommodation services in crisis situations can be granted for up to one year to:

• children without adequate parental care
• children whose parents are temporarily unable to care for them due to illness, unresolved housing issues or other hardships
• children placed in foster families who need treatment or healthcare that the foster family cannot provide
• pregnant women or parents with a child under the age of one, without housing or a place to live, or who cannot stay in the family with their child due to dysfunctional family relations
• victims of domestic violence
• victims of human trafficking or
• homeless persons.

Accommodation for rehabilitation programme purposes
 
The right to accommodation services for rehabilitation programme purposes is granted to:

• children with developmental disabilities
• persons with disabilities
• persons addicted to alcohol, drugs, gambling or having other addictions.

 
Accommodation services for rehabilitation programme purposes may also be granted to parents of a child with developmental disabilities referred to a rehabilitation programme, in order to ensure active participation in the psychosocial programme, based on the established evaluation and programme of the service provider, but for no longer than 15 days in a calendar year.
Accommodation services for rehabilitation programme purposes may be provided for as long as the need for it persists, and at the most up to:

• one year for a child with developmental disabilities or a person with disabilities
• three years for a person addicted to alcohol, drugs, gambling or having other addictions.

Accommodation services for psychosocial treatment purposes

 
Accommodation services for psychosocial treatment purposes are granted to children or young adults with behavioural issues.
Accommodation services for psychosocial treatment purposes are provided for as long as the need persists, and for no more than three years. 

Accommodation services in other situations

Accommodation services in other situations are granted to:

• children with developmental disabilities or persons with disabilities for the following reasons:
• their parent caregiver or caregiver is using annual leave, for no more than 30 days throughout one calendar year or
• their parent caregiver or caregiver is temporarily unable to work, pursuant to regulations pertaining to mandatory health insurance, as long as the need persists, and for no more than 60 days throughout one calendar year
• children and adults who have been granted accommodation services in a foster family for the purpose of experiencing life in a family during holiday seasons or school vacations
• children with developmental disabilities and persons with disabilities for the purpose of education according to a special programme away from their place of residence, when education cannot be provided in their place of residence, up until 21 years of age
• children with behavioural issues for the purpose of carrying out a multidisciplinary assessment, in the duration of 30 days
• children without adequate parental care where care cannot be provided in their own home and through other social services in a foster family, for as long as the need persists, up until 26 years of age
• foreign nationals and stateless persons with temporary stay in the Republic of Croatia, for up to three years, and persons who are faced with hardships, for up to one year
• a child with developmental disabilities, a person with disabilities, a seriously ill adult and an elderly person who needs to be provided with intensive care and basic living needs due to health and functional impairment, if care cannot be provided in their own home and by providing other social services
• persons unable to work who are experiencing particularly difficult circumstances in life which cannot be eliminated by granting other social welfare rights or in another manner.

Accommodation service providers

Accommodation services are provided by social welfare homes, associations, religious communities and other legal persons, natural persons who carry out social welfare activities as their profession or as a trade, or foster families.
Children, particularly those under seven years of age, are granted accommodation services primarily in foster families.
Exceptionally, if when the need for providing a child with accommodation services arises, and especially for a child under seven years of age, accommodation services cannot be provided in a foster family, these services are provided in a social welfare home or an association, religious community, and by other legal persons, for up to one year.

Exercising of rights 

The procedure for the recognition of the right to accommodation service is initiated at the request of the beneficiary at the regional office of the Croatian Social Labour Institute, competent according to the residence of the beneficiary.

The addresses and telephone numbers of the regional offices can be found on the website of the Croatian Institute for Social work.

Personal needs allowance for accommodation services beneficiaries

Personal needs allowance is granted to a beneficiary of accommodation services or organised housing if they are unable to meet their personal needs with their own income while using accommodation services or organised housing.
Personal needs allowance for children in elementary school, adults and elderly persons amounts to 33,18 EUR, and for children and young adults in high school or other young adults amounts to 46,45 EUR.