Today, 15/1/2016, the National Assembly adopted on a second reading the amendments to the Social Assistance Act (Amendment of the SAA). These amendments of the SAA were made at the suggestion of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. Further details about the amendments can be found here.

One of the most important changes is the introduction of a new line of institutionalization for persons under full or partial guardianship. Thanks to the efforts of a group of civil society organizations, which raised the issues for public debate, the proposals made by the Commission on labour, social and demographic policy of the National Assembly, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the Ministry of Justice, the texts meet the standards of the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, allowing for the first time in Bulgaria to apply the standards of Art. 12. The adopted texts are fully consistent with the recommendations of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, made after two reprehensible cases against Bulgaria.

Another important change - thanks to the efforts of a number of NGOs, public figures, representatives of municipalities and MPs from different political parties in SAA (even partially) clarification was given on a long-standing problem of the practice of outsourcing social services by municipalities to private providers in the country. A text was adopted, which gives an opportunity to the mayor of the municipality, when announcing the competition for the public distribution of social services that are delegated by the state and local activities to include in the competition and requirement that the supplier has to provide the necessary facilities, which are needed to provide the particular service. This proposal must solve practical problems that arose last year in implementing the SAA, where the private provider owns the building and the awarded is asked to "transfer" ownership to the municipality, then the municipality organizes the competition and assigns the service.

The changes significantly amended the functioning of the system of social services. A new definition for social services was introduced and the procedure for access to social services was amended by introducing a limit of three years for placement in specialized institutions for children and people with disabilities. A multidisciplinary assessment was also introduced, for all who wish to use social services, both for children and adults.