On August 18, Minsk /Elena Prus - BELTA/. The state allowance for the care of a child with a disability in 2012 will be set at 100% of the living wage. This is stipulated by the National Programme for Demographic Security of the Republic of Belarus for 2011-2015, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection informed BELTA correspondent. Currently, the amount of this allowance is 65% of the living wage (from August 1 to October 31 of the current year, it equals Br287 thousand 530). The demographic security programme also plans other measures to support families raising children with disabilities. For example, in the coming years, territorial centres for social services for the population will begin to provide short-term day care services for children to single-parent families raising a child with a disability, and families raising two or more children with disabilities. According to specialists, the cost of this service will be socially affordable. Inviting a social nanny to the home of a child with a disability will give the mother of the child with a disability or another relative a kind of respite. After all, caring for such children requires complete dedication from relatives; they devote almost all their free time to this difficult task, being unable to attend to their personal matters. The system of social patronage for families in connection with the birth of a child with a disability will be developed in the country. The main goal of this new form of work is to provide diverse assistance to such families, even before they find themselves in a difficult life situation. This includes overcoming psychological problems, financial support, and involving medical professionals, lawyers, and other specialists if necessary. Therefore, it will be necessary to establish clear interdepartmental interaction. The ministry stressed that social patronage is possible only with the consent of the family itself and will be strictly individual, based on the family's needs for specific types of assistance. There are 25.6 thousand children with disabilities under the age of 18 in Belarus. -0-

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