Children with disabilities cannot benefit from services and therapy. There is no money for adjudication committees

5-year-old Ryszard does not know that his mother fights every day for him to go to therapy. Now he can’t. Ryszard, although he looks healthy, suffers from a serious metabolic disease. He needs therapy, but to be able to attend it he must have a disability certificate, which expired in September. The problem is that the District Disability Assessment Team does not adjudicate. The reason is lack of money. The applications keep piling up and decisions are not issued. And at the end there is, among others, little Ryszard, who has at least a few months left without rehabilitation. – I’m very angry because now my child – and not only mine – remains without support solely because the institution appointed to adjudicate does not have money for adjudication – says Paula Orzechowska-Oleś, Ryszard’s mother.

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There are many people across the country in this situation. Without a decision, you lose care benefits – often the only source of income – privileges in queues to a specialist or access to rehabilitation. – They don’t hold any grudges against us, because they don’t. These are the tasks of the government administration and there should be no shortage of this money – says Alina Adamiak, chairwoman of the District Disability Assessment Team in Słupsk. In Słupsk alone, over 2,000 applications are waiting to be considered. There are over 3,000 in arrears in Gliwice. – It’s about savings. The longer such a decision is not issued, the longer the person will not benefit from the benefits – says Agnieszka Filipowska, councilor of Gliwice from the Civic Coalition.

There is also a problem with issuing disability certificates in Wrocław. It is true that committees are held there, but much less frequently, and the waiting time can be up to 6 months. – Everyone expects their case to be resolved quickly. But we are really powerless – says Bożena Zimoch, chairwoman of the District Disability Assessment Team in Wrocław.

People who are waiting for the ruling are stuck in limbo. Neither healthy nor disabled. And although the district teams are aware of the problem, without money for the adjudicating committee they are unable to speed up anything. – Someone make this ruling. Because the child did not cease to be disabled just because the certificate expired – says Paula Orzechowska-Oleś.