Apply for benefits from the State Blind Fund
If you are blind or have a comparably severe visual impairment, live in a home environment and are in a challenging life situation, you can apply for financial support from the State Blind Fund.
Benefits from the State Fund for the Blind may be approved in particular,
- if you have been diagnosed with blindness or a comparably severe visual impairment within the last four years prior to receipt of an application,
- if you live alone, because in the last 18 months before receipt of the application, a sighted person previously living in your household has left the household,
- if you are starting one of the following activities for the first time: an apprenticeship, a course of study, employment on the primary labour market or in a workshop for disabled people,
- if you change your place of residence for professional reasons (e.g. by changing your place of work or starting retraining),
- if you are actually caring for one or more children under the age of 16 who live with you in the same household,
- if you participate in self-help measures that are not financed by third parties, in particular social security or social service providers,
- if you are also deaf.
Benefits from the State Fund for the Blind are paid as lump sums.
You are free to decide how to use the financial support provided.
Process flow
- You submit an application for benefits from the State Blind Fund to the Lower Saxony State Office for Social Affairs, Youth and Family in Hildesheim.
- The authority will review your application and will contact you if you have any queries or missing documents.
- Once all documents have been submitted, the authority will examine your entitlement to benefits from the State Fund for the Blind.
- After the examination, you will receive a letter of approval or rejection.
Who should I contact?
The responsibility lies with the Lower Saxony State Office for Social Affairs, Youth and Family in Hildesheim
Requirements
- They must have been awarded the mark Bl, which stands for blind, by means of a declaratory decision.
- They are not allowed to live in an inpatient facility (e.g. nursing home) or in a special form of housing provided by integration assistance.
Which documents are required?
- Copy of the assessment notice for the mark "Bl" or a valid severely disabled person's ID card with the registered mark "Bl"
- Proof of habitual residence in Lower Saxony
- Documents that are suitable to credibly substantiate the reason you have given for the benefits you have applied for
- if the application cannot or should not be submitted by the applicant himself, if applicable, proof that the applicant is entitled to submit the application (e.g. power of attorney, guardian card)
What are the fees?
There are no fees.
Fee: free of charge
Fee: free of charge
What deadlines do I have to pay attention to?
There are no deadlines to be observed. However, the application must be closely related to the purpose in terms of time.
Processing duration
A decision on the application will be taken as soon as possible. The processing time depends, among other things, on the completeness of the information and the submission of the evidence required for the processing of the application.
Applications / forms
Applicationscan be submitted in writing (informally or by application, which you can obtain from the Lower Saxony State Office for Social Affairs, Youth and Family) or online.
Appeal
Complaint
What else should I know?
On the website of the Lower Saxony State Office for Social Affairs, Youth and Family you can find more information about the State Blind Fund.
Other benefits for blind people could be state blind allowance and/or assistance for the blind to compensate for the additional expenses caused by blindness.
Blind and severely visually impaired people from the former administrative district of Braunschweig can receive support from the Herzog Wilhelm Foundation for the Blind.
Lower Saxony State Office for Social Affairs, Youth and Family
Duke Wilhelm Foundation for the Blind
Comments
Although an informal application is possible, you will need to fill out the application form afterwards.
Further benefits for blind persons can be granted within the framework of the state blind allowance under the Act on the State Blind Allowance for Civil Blind Persons (BlindGeldG ND) or within the framework of assistance for the blind under the Twelfth Book of the Social Code (SGB XII).
Blind and severely visually impaired people from the former administrative district of Braunschweig can receive support from the Herzog Wilhelm Foundation for the Blind.
Technically approved by
Lower Saxony Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour, Health and Equality
Author
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
