When a child with a disability is born in a family, parents almost immediately enter the world of constant struggle not only with medical diagnoses, but also with state procedures. Papers, commissions, queues, certificates, approvals – this system is difficult to understand even for experienced specialists. And if the medical component of rehabilitation is clear to every father or mother from the moment the diagnosis is made, the legal side often becomes an unpredictable trap: whether the child will receive rehabilitation services or not may depend on the nuances of the application. And here the main question arises: how does the rehabilitation mechanism really work, how to act in difficult situations, who to turn to and what details should be taken into account even before the start of the application.
That is why the editors of the IA “FAKT” turned to the lawyers of the “Repeshko and Partners” Bar Association to help parents understand the difficult route — from submitting documents to concluding rehabilitation contracts.
Children are joy, children are happiness, but only parents of children with disabilities know that children are daily work and a parental feat at the limit of human capabilities. As of January 1, 2022, 162,214 children with disabilities were registered in Ukraine. Due to the full-scale hostilities, it is currently not possible to obtain up-to-date information on the number of such children in the country, but the Ministry of Education and Science notes that the number of students with special educational needs, including those with disabilities, in the 2024/2025 school year was 47,610. As we can see, these statistics concern only school-age children, but do not provide information on preschool children – from birth to 6-7 years old.
In order to make the lives of parents of children with special needs a little easier, the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated March 27, 2019 No. 309 approved the “Procedure for the use of funds provided in the state budget for the rehabilitation of children with disabilities”, which defines the mechanism for providing the child with rehabilitation services. This procedure defines that a child with a disability is a person before reaching the age of majority (under the age of 18) with a permanent limitation of life activity, who has been diagnosed with a disability in accordance with the procedure established by the law.
We note that there is a clear list of institutions that are subject to the rehabilitation program, which is indicated on the official website at the link – https://www.ispf.gov.ua/diyalnist/reabilitaciya-ditej/perelik-reabilitacijnih-ustanov. Present the list contains rehabilitation institutions, health care institutions that carry out measures for the rehabilitation of children with disabilities as of June 10, 2025. It is constantly updated, so you should check it periodically to get the latest information. So the first step is to choose a rehabilitation facility based on the specified list. Information about the chosen institution must be specified in the application. In order to confirm the possibility of providing rehabilitation services by the rehabilitation institution you have chosen, the body to which you have submitted an application will contact such an institution on its own.
Regarding the procedure for the child to receive rehabilitation services
To provide the child with rehabilitation services, one of his parents or his legal representative submits to one of the bodies specified in this point at the place of registration or actual place of residence of the child an application for sending him to a rehabilitation institution using a form approved by the Ministry of Social Policy.
If two or more children from the same family require rehabilitation services at the same time, the accompanying person can also be one of their parents, legal representatives, one of their close relatives (adult sibling, grandmother, grandfather, uncle, aunt) if there is a written confirmation of this from one of the parents or a legal representative. In this case, the application is submitted by one of the parents or a legal representative.
In order to provide the child with rehabilitation services, one of the child’s parents or his legal representative submits (with the presentation of the originals) copies of the following necessary documents together with the application:
- a passport of a citizen of Ukraine or another document certifying the identity of one of the child’s parents, an accompanying person or his legal representative;
- a child’s birth certificate or a passport of a citizen of Ukraine certifying the child’s identity;
- individual rehabilitation program issued by the medical and advisory commission of the medical and preventive institution;
- extracts from the medical card of an outpatient (inpatient) patient in the form approved by the Ministry of Health;
- a document confirming the status of an orphan/child deprived of parental care (for an orphan/child deprived of parental care);
- one of the provided Tax Code of Ukraine documents with data on the registration number of the tax payer’s registration card of the child, one of his parents (legal representative), the accompanying person (not submitted by natural persons who, due to their religious beliefs, refused to accept the registration number of the taxpayer’s registration card, officially notified the relevant control body about it and have a note about it in the passport of a citizen of Ukraine).
Next, the local body forms the personal file of the child on the basis of the specified documents.
It should be emphasized that in order to provide a child with rehabilitation services, an application together with the necessary documents is accepted:
- by local authorities at the place of registration of the child by sending them by mail or in electronic form through the official website of the Ministry of Social Policy, information systems of executive authorities and local self-government bodies integrated with it, or the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services;
- by authorized officials of the executive body of the village, settlement, city council of the relevant territorial community and administrators of the center for the provision of administrative services, who transfer them within three working days from the date of receipt to the relevant local body.
The day of application of one of the child’s parents or his legal representative to the local body for provision of rehabilitation services is considered to be the date of registration of the application together with the necessary documents in the log of application registration.
Registration of applications, as well as determining the sequence of provision of rehabilitation services is carried out in the order of receipt of applications. At the same time, by the 15th of each month, the local body publishes on its official website information about the number of registered applications and the sequence of providing rehabilitation services without specifying personal data.
Such information includes:
- registration number of the application, which is assigned in chronological order, the date of its registration,
- information about the results of its examination (date of referral of the child to a rehabilitation institution; justified refusal of rehabilitation services; change of order, etc.),
- terms of providing rehabilitation services and the name of the rehabilitation institution.
Children who were not provided with them in the previous budget year due to the lack of budget funds or in connection with the child’s long-term illness are primarily provided with rehabilitation services in accordance with the submitted applications.
In the case of receiving a justified refusal to provide rehabilitation services from a rehabilitation institution chosen by one of the parents or a legal representative of the child, the local body informs one of the parents or the legal representative of the child about this and offers to choose another rehabilitation institution.
The basis for providing rehabilitation services to a child is the conclusion of a bilateral agreement between a local authority and a rehabilitation institution. This contract is drawn up by the local authority no later than five working days before the start of the provision of rehabilitation services in the rehabilitation institution in the order of priority and within the limits of the estimated assignment in two copies (one for the local authority, the second for the rehabilitation institution), which specifies the terms of the provision of rehabilitation services in the rehabilitation institution, the cost of the components of such services, etc.
Regarding the cost of the specified rehabilitation services and its component
Rehabilitation services are provided free of charge to children with disabilities. If the actual cost of rehabilitation services is higher than the amount covered by the state, the difference can be covered from own funds or from other sources. The cost of rehabilitation services for each child is determined by the rehabilitation institution in accordance with the individual rehabilitation program.
The marginal cost of rehabilitation services per year for one child who, according to the individual rehabilitation program, has limitations of the I and II degree in most of the main categories of life activities, cannot exceed 16 thousand. hryvnias, III degree – 25 thousand UAH At the same time, the marginal cost of rehabilitation services per year for one orphan child, a child deprived of parental care, who, according to the individual rehabilitation program, has limitations of the I, II, III degree in most of the main categories of life, increases by 50 percent for each degree.
It is worth knowing that one child can be provided with rehabilitation services within their marginal cost several times during the budget year. In addition, rehabilitation services can be provided in a hospital or on an outpatient basis. The cost of feeding the child may be included in the marginal cost of rehabilitation services provided on an outpatient basis. The marginal cost of rehabilitation services provided in a hospital may also include the cost of accommodation and food for the child, one of the parents or the child’s legal representative or accompanying person.
In addition, the marginal cost of rehabilitation services provided in a hospital may include the cost of transportation (if needed) of a child who needs external assistance and one of his parents or a legal representative or accompanying person. Such transportation is provided by the rehabilitation institution within the administrative-territorial unit where it is located: from transport hubs (railway station, bus station) to the rehabilitation institution and back.
If there are no means of transport owned or at the disposal of the rehabilitation institution, the transportation of a child in need of outside assistance and one of his parents or a legal representative or an accompanying person may be carried out with the involvement of a carrier with which the rehabilitation institution has concluded a relevant contract. At the same time, the payment of the fare must be documented. At the same time, at least 60% of the funds allocated by the state must be used directly for rehabilitation services.
Please note that the reason for refusing to provide rehabilitation services to a child is the submission of an incomplete package of necessary documents. However, if there is a refusal to provide the specified service, the child’s parents are not deprived of the right to file a corresponding claim with the district administrative court.
