If you are a parent or caregiver of a child with a severe disability, read on
All children deserve to live whole and fulfilling lives irrespective of their circumstances. It is the parent's duty to make sure that a child's needs are met, but unfortunately it is not always possible for parents or caregivers to do so adequately. Often parents are unable to meet the basic needs of their children due to their socio-economic status. Our Government has various mechanisms to assist parents and caregivers in meeting the needs of children including those children with disabilities. That is where the care dependency grant comes in.
Section 27(1)(c) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa entrenches the right to access to social assistance for those who need it. The Social Assistance Act was created to render and provide the mechanism to render social assistance in the form of grants, provided by the government through South African Social Security Agency. The care dependency grant is a grant developed to assist and provide support to parents, primary caregivers and foster parents of children with severe mental and/or physical disabilities, who are in need of full-time and special care. This grant covers disabled children from birth until they turn 18 years old.
Who qualifies?
The care dependency grant has very specific guidelines as to who qualifies to receive it. The requirements are as follows:
1. You must be a parent, primary caregiver or a foster parent appointed by the court;
2. You must be a South African citizen, permanent resident or refugee – residing in South Africa at time of the application;
3. You must qualify in terms of the means test. If you are single you cannot earn more than R223 200 a year or R18 600 per month. If you are married your combined income should not be above R446 400 a year or R37 200 per month.
4. The income limit does not apply to foster parents.
The child in this case must:
1. Be younger than 18 years;
2. Not be cared for permanently in a state institution; and
3. Have a severe disability and need full-time and special care;
4. A state medical officer must assess the child before the grant will be approved.
What you need for the application?
If you are the biological parent:
1. ID document and child's birth certificate.
2. Road to health clinic card (if available).
3. School report if available.
4. A medical report confirming the child's disability.
5. Proof of marital status.
6. Proof of income.
If you are not the biological parent:
1. Proof that you are the primary caregiver (in the form of an affidavit, social workers report or letter from the principal of the school the child is attending).
2. If you are a foster parent, provide the court order placing the child in your care.
3. ID document and child's birth certificate.
4. A medical report confirming the child's disability.
5. School report if available.
6. Proof of marital status.
What if your application is not approved?
If your application is not approved, you will be notified immediately at the SASSA office or in writing within a reasonable time. You have the opportunity to have the decision reconsidered by the panel representing the Minister.
If your application for the CDG has been denied and you are aggrieved by this decision, you have the opportunity to appeal this decision, citing the reasons why you disagree. You have to appeal within 90 days of being notified that your application was unsuccessful. For example, if you made your application on 9 September 2020, and you receive a response on 12 November 2022 that the grant has not been successful – you have 90 days from 12 November to lodge your appeal.
You need to lodge a written appeal with the Minister against that decision, setting out the reasons why the Minister should vary or set aside that decision. The Minister may appoint a person or persons to constitute a tribunal to consider the appeal. The tribunal has 30 days to deal with the appeal.
Case study:
Ms Modise* goes to her local SASSA office to apply for the care dependency grant for her 8 year old minor child, Sophie. Ms Modise is a single parent earning R7000 per month as a cleaner. Sophie* suffers from a serious disability that requires her to have specialized assistance. Sophie lives at home and goes to school every day, where she receives the required therapy. Sophie is also seen by a specialist team at the local public hospital. The team is comprised of the head psychiatrist, occupational therapist, child psychologist and speech therapist. While at the SASSA office, Ms Modise fills in the requisite form and provides the accompanying documentation. After that Ms Modise and Sophie meet with the Doctor stationed at the SASSA office, after the brief 15 minute interaction, Ms Modise is informed that her application for the care dependency grant is denied, and she can apply for the child support grant. Ms Modise is aggrieved by this as she knows the difficulty faced by Sophie because Ms Modise cannot afford some of the medical items Sophie needs at home. Ms Modise then files for appeal immediately at the SASSA office, and within the hour she receives an SMS stating that the application was denied. Ms Modise now has 90 days to appeal this decision with the Minister and/or the Minister's Tribunal. The appeal is often referred to as the “reconsideration of the decision”. Ms Modise, must now set out the facts of her matter, starting from the date she made the original application, to when the application was denied (making sure it is done within the 90 days), then she has to set out all the ways in which Sophie and herself meet the criteria for the CDG. The most important items are the reports provided by the professionals working at the public hospital that have been assisting the minor child. The report must contain a clear diagnosis, child's history and what the child's needs are.
The CDG is often under utilised as many children who qualify for it do not receive it because parents do not know about it or if they do apply and get denied, the parents do not know that they can appeal the decision.
Should you need any advice relating to the Care Dependency Grant or any other social assistance issue, kindly visit your nearest LegalWise Branch.
The use of any names is fictional and for illustrative purposes only.