Applications for personal assistant program for the disabled now open

Individuals with disabilities may apply for a home assistant as of today (May 10) through a platform for the purpose, https://prosopikosvoithos.gov.gr, the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday. Conversely, individuals who wish to work as personal assistants to people with disabilities may also apply as of the same date on the same platform.

The platform will remain open to either applicants until 23:59 on June 11.

Disabled people will be evaluated at their home environment by a committee including a social worker, a physical therapist or occupational therapist, and a psychologist to determine each person’s needs. Each disabled individual approved for assistance will receive a stipend of up to 1,663 euros per month to hire one or two individuals through the database in the above platform.

People approved as assistants will participate in training provided for free by the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry before being listed on the platform’s database.

This pilot program’s first phase is already in operation in the Region of Attica and its islands, and will provide assistance to 1,000 people. Another 1,000 people will benefit in the remaining regions in a second phase. Unused funds will create more positions in the entire country.

Funding for the program comes from the Recovery and Resilience Fund and will end in 2025, at which time the NSRF resources will be used.

Labor and Social Affairs Deputy Minister Domna Michailidou said that the program “will guarantee independent living for a person with a disability, based on that person’s needs, wishes, and choices. It also contributes to disengaging the family from supporting this individual, and to preventing and deterring this person’s insitutionalization.” It is an innovative program in Greece that has been used in advanced European countries, Michailidou noted, adding, “It was also very difficult to apply. We are truly proud to have put in practice a decades-long need of our fellow-citizens who have a disability, throughout Greece as well.”

Information and applications: https://prosopikosvoithos.gov.gr

For details, call 1555 (press #3/OPEKA, then #8) without charge, or tel. 210-7000240 (local phone charge) from 09:00 to 21:00 Monday-Friday.