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Social rehabilitation of children

In the rehabilitation service, a team consisting of several specialists teaches and advises the parents, the child and the network in order to support the child in coping with everyday life.

To whom?

Does your child have a special needs due to a medical condition and needs more care because of difficulties listening to others, noticing, expressing himself or mobility? Are you worried about the complex behavior of your child and feel that you can no longer support your child yourself and need the support of specialists? Does your child have several problems that cannot be solved with the help of individual services (e.g. support person, speech therapist, special pedagogue), but requires the intervention of specialists from several specialties, i.e. a rehabilitation team?

If so, then social rehabilitation services can help you. In the rehabilitation service, a team of several specialists teaches and advises the parents, the child and the network in order to support the child in coping with everyday life. At the service, your child's coping is supported by a social rehabilitation team, which includes up to ten different specialists: social worker, special pedagogue, speech therapist, psychologist, creative therapist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, experience counselor, nurse and doctor.

There are two ways to refer to the service.

  • If your child is up to 16 years old and has a severity of disability determined you can apply for the service from the Social Security Office (if your child with special needs is 16 years old or older, see here)
  • If you are concerned about your child's behavior, including mental health problems, if he has experienced mental or physical violence, contact the child protection specialist of the local government for help. The specialist assesses the child's need for help, finds out the appropriate help measure and, if necessary, provides support in obtaining the most appropriate help and service(s). In the event that the implemented service(s) have not yielded results, the local government may request a social rehabilitation service for the child. Read more here.

The annual limit of the service for children is 2695 euros.

The service is provided by partners of the Social Insurance Board, and if there is no service provider near your home, travel and accommodation expenses will be reimbursed.

How to receive?

If your child has been assigned a degree of disability, apply for the service from the Social Insurance Board.

Submit an application to receive the service.

  • We review the application for the child's social rehabilitation service and make a decision to refer to the service or refuse it within 10 working days.
  • NB! In the case of a child's repeated request for a social rehabilitation service, the decision to refer to the service or refuse the service is made within 10 working days after receiving the child's final documents from the service provider.

Maximum cost of the service per calendar year

The maximum cost of the service per calendar year, or the annual limit is up to EUR 2695 per year until the end of the calendar year in which the disabled child turns 16 or the child in need of assistance, as assessed by the local government, turns 19.

  • The calculation of the money is individual – for example, a child with reduced mobility will have more money for physiotherapeutic services than a child who was not found to have reduced mobility when determining the severity of the disability. You can use the remaining services, if necessary, until the annual limit is reached.

Within the overall annual limit, there is a separate annual limit for the following services:

  • assessing and planning rehabilitation needs;
  • physiotherapist service.

You can use the remaining services, if necessary, until the annual limit is reached.

Organisation of childrens social rehabilitation services

  1. The child has a previously determined degree of disability
  2. Submit the application for rehabilitation service to the Estonian National Social Insurance Board
  3. The Estonian National Social Insurance Board conducts a preliminary assessment of the need for a complex service and issues a referral decision if the need is established
  4. You can stay on the service waiting list for up to 1 year
  5. When your turn comes, the Estonian National Social Insurance Board will send you a notice that you can contact the service provider
  6. Contact a social rehabilitation service provider within 60 days and agree on the time of receipt of the service
  7. The service provider’s team, in cooperation with the family and the network, assesses the child’s rehabilitation needs and prepares a rehabilitation plan
  8. The child receives the service according to the rehabilitation plan
  9. The service provider evaluates the performance of the service with the parent/guardian and the child
  10. The parent/guardian confirms with the service provider those services that the child has received.

Assessment of rehabilitation needs

A rehabilitation needs assessment is carried out to ascertain whether or not a child with a disability needs rehabilitation services. The child’s rehabilitation needs are assessed by a service provider, who prepares a rehabilitation plan.

If the child has a valid rehabilitation plan, he or she can receive the services on the basis thereof, if a referral is made to a service provider. Be sure to take the plan with you when you go to the service.

The child’s rehabilitation needs are assessed by a team of rehabilitation service providers, including specialists from different disciplines. The team preparing the plan must include a social worker and a special education teacher, and other specialists will be involved according to the type of disability and the needs of the child.If the child does not have a valid rehabilitation plan, the first step is for the service provider to prepare one in cooperation with the child’s family and network. Networks can be a nursery school, a school, a family physician, a social worker from the local government, or other important network members in the child’s life.

In order to prepare the plan, a least 3 specialists from the rehabilitation team will meet with the child and family and assess the child’s coping in different areas, as well as the parenting skills of the parents.

During the assessment, the specialists will talk to the child and the family, and different tests may be administered and tasks given. On the basis of the assessments, the specialists will establish the need for different services and technical aids, make recommendations and prepare a rehabilitation plan. In cooperation with the child and the family, a rehabilitation objective will be set, which will be formulated in such a way that the results of its achievement can be measured at a later stage.

The plan is signed by all the specialists involved in its preparation and the parent.

If, as a result of the assessment, it is found that the child does not need social rehabilitation services in addition to the assistance of the educational institution or the local government, or that the child’s coping cannot be improved by the services, the rehabilitation plan will justify this and the action plan will not prescribe rehabilitation services.

Last updated: 15.01.2024

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