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Statistics released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs show that as of the first half of this year, there were 39.354 million urban and rural subsistence allowance recipients and 4.937 million people in extreme hardship nationwide; 12.027 million people received living subsidies for persons with disabilities in difficulty, and 16.871 million people received nursing care subsidies for persons with severe disabilities. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, cumulative national expenditure on basic living assistance exceeded 1.38 trillion yuan, and the average standards for urban and rural subsistence allowances increased by 22.8% and 25% respectively. Behind the data are specific people and real households being supported by an increasingly improved social assistance system. Starting July 1 this year, the Social Assistance Law of the People's Republic of China officially took effect. Policies introduced one after another to promptly identify difficulties, precisely respond to needs, and guarantee basic living are becoming closer to people's concrete lives, and China's basic livelihood security net is being woven more densely.
Actively developing service-based social assistance makes bottom-line protection stronger
In Changle Town, Hepu County, Beihai City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Zhang Shanying (pseudonym) has moved into an elderly care institution. Every day someone cares for her daily life, brings meals at mealtimes, and provides timely care when she feels unwell. Not long ago, Zhang Shanying's husband suddenly passed away, leaving her, unable to care for herself, without support. Because relevant certificates had been lost, even applying for assistance became a problem. After learning of the situation, staff from the Changle Town civil affairs office took the initiative to intervene, contacted the public security department to replace the household register and ID card, coordinated with relevant departments to replace the disability certificate and social security card, and then helped verify the family situation and handle the assistance application. After review, Zhang Shanying was identified as a person in extreme hardship. Considering that she could not care for herself and had no one nearby to look after her, local authorities coordinated to send her to an elderly care institution for centralized support.
The difficulties of the people are important matters in social assistance work. For especially disadvantaged people such as those who are incapacitated, disabled, or have no one to care for them, the difficulty is often not only a lack of money. Who will cook, who will provide care, and what to do when one cannot care for oneself are all immediate problems. Recently, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance issued the Guiding Opinions on Actively Developing Service-Based Social Assistance, promoting a shift in social assistance from a single material assistance method to a comprehensive "material + services" assistance model, providing care, living, and support services according to the actual needs of assistance recipients. "The problems faced by people in difficulty are very concrete. Sometimes what is lacking is living expenses, and sometimes what is lacking is a person who can provide care and companionship nearby," said Zhu Jianhua, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He said that actively developing service-based social assistance should not only guarantee the basic living of people in difficulty, but also give them emotional support and hope in life. "From ensuring basic food and clothing to further responding to practical needs such as daily care, life services, psychological comfort, companionship and care, and social integration, this reflects that China's social assistance pays more attention to the specific circumstances of people in difficulty and provides more multidimensional comprehensive support by linking resources and integrating forces."
"Big data + 'iron footsteps'": timely intervention and more proactive identification of assistance
Dong Xinghua, a civil affairs assistant in Yuanhe Subdistrict, Yunhe County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, opened the Zhejiang Provincial Big Social Assistance Information System, and an early warning for large medical expenditures popped up. It turned out that 67-year-old Uncle Que had previously applied for assistance and, because of weak risk resistance, had been included in the dynamic monitoring of the big social assistance information system. In March this year, Uncle Que suffered a sudden cerebral infarction that left him paralyzed all over. The earlier medical expenses almost exhausted the family's savings, and there were still monthly rehabilitation and nursing fees, leaving them unable to make ends meet. Seeing the warning, Dong Xinghua immediately called to verify. After asking the hospital and Uncle Que's son to clarify the situation, she used the system's "mobile agency" function to help Uncle Que's family apply for the "one thing" joint handling of assistance. "You focus on caring for your father, and we will handle the rest," Dong Xinghua told Uncle Que's son. That afternoon, the subsistence allowance application was submitted through the system. Fifteen days later, Uncle Que's family was approved for subsistence allowance benefits and could receive 1,210 yuan per month, with subsequent medical expenses also receiving corresponding protection under local policies. Since the beginning of this year, Yunhe County has proactively discovered and included 135 similar families in assistance through system warnings.
A family can fall into difficulty sometimes right after a serious illness or an accident. In the past, some people did not understand the policies, did not know whom to ask, or were too occupied by urgent matters to submit applications, so they might not enter the assistance view for a time. Now, as information sharing among departments and grassroots visits and screenings are more closely connected, the role of dynamic monitoring of low-income populations has become more evident. The Social Assistance Law includes marginal subsistence allowance families and families with rigid expenditure difficulties within the scope of social assistance recipients, and makes institutional arrangements for strengthening dynamic monitoring of low-income populations and proactively discovering people in difficulty. "The value of 'policies finding people' lies in moving the threshold for discovery and assistance forward," Zhu Jianhua said. Data can help identify possible risks for a family, but to truly know what the family lacks and where the difficulties lie, grassroots staff still need to enter the home. "Big data discovers clues, and 'iron footsteps' verify the situation. Only by combining the two can proactive prevention and early intervention be achieved, making assistance both fast and accurate. This is also a concrete manifestation of social assistance playing its risk-prevention function."
A relevant responsible comrade from the Social Assistance Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that work is currently under way to further improve the stratified and classified social assistance system. By combining departmental data sharing with household visits, monitoring and early warning can be achieved, promptly discovering families that have fallen into difficulty due to large medical expenditures, sharp income declines, and other reasons, and then matching corresponding assistance policies according to the degree and type of difficulty. This not only ensures that eligible people in difficulty are "covered as they should be," but also strives to achieve early discovery of difficulties and early intervention in assistance.
Continuous improvement of the subsidy system makes protection for persons with disabilities warmer
In Lijiatanghou Village, Longshan Subdistrict, Wendeng District, Weihai City, Shandong Province, for Wang Ankang (pseudonym), who has been bedridden and paralyzed for more than 20 years after a car accident, nursing pads, medicines, and nutritional products are fixed monthly expenses. In 2016, Wang Ankang began receiving the living subsidy for persons with disabilities in difficulty and the nursing care subsidy for persons with severe disabilities. At that time, both subsidies were 80 yuan per month. Now, according to local standards, the two subsidies have increased to 213 yuan and 192 yuan per month respectively. "The subsidies arrive on time every month, which gives me peace of mind," Wang Ankang said. These two sums can basically cover the cost of nursing consumables and commonly used medicines, and they are very important to his family.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the standards for the two subsidies for persons with disabilities increased by 34.58% and 25.09% respectively. In recent years, the system of the two subsidies for persons with disabilities has been continuously improved. Qualification application has achieved "cross-provincial handling" and "full online handling." Relevant departments have continuously strengthened data sharing and proactive services, making it more convenient for eligible persons with disabilities to enjoy policies. "With the continuous improvement of the two subsidies for persons with disabilities and the level of social assistance, the basic living of persons with disabilities has been effectively guaranteed. At the same time, long-term care is becoming a real problem faced by many families with disabled members, especially prominent for families with severely disabled members," said Yang Lixiong, a professor at Renmin University of China. He believes it is necessary to continuously improve the care service system for persons with severe disabilities. In the process of carrying out service-based social assistance, persons with severe disabilities in difficulty should be listed as key service recipients, with precise measures taken to reduce the care burden on their families.
A relevant responsible comrade from the Social Affairs Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that the living subsidy for persons with disabilities in difficulty is mainly used to subsidize the extra living expenses incurred by persons with disabilities because of disability, while the nursing care subsidy for persons with severe disabilities is mainly used to subsidize the extra long-term care expenses incurred by persons with disabilities because of disability. Next, work will continue to improve the dynamic adjustment mechanism for subsidy standards, strengthen data sharing and comparison and proactive services, and enable eligible persons with disabilities to enjoy policies in a more timely and convenient manner.
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