Economic assistance

If you need financial assistance you can apply for försörjningsstöd (social assistance). You can only apply for försörjningsstöd (social assistance) if you have no other means to support yourself.

To apply for försörjningsstöd (social assistance) you must first contact Kundcenter at Östersunds kommun. When you contact Kundcenter you can also obtain assistance with booking an interpretor if you need one.

After contacting Kundcenter, it is time to meet a case officer for the first time at Social Services. Before your first visit to the case officer you should have received information about, for example, which documents you need in order to apply for försörjningsstöd (social assistance), and also have received advice and tips.

When you meet the case officer, you review your situation together, including family, networks, housing, work, health and economic situation. We place particular importance on planning for how you will be able to support yourself in the future.

The Social Services in Östersunds kommun are obliged to work preventively and on the basis of a so-called holistic perspective. So you might be asked about issues other than your economic situation, for example, about your health and that of your children, about alcohol and drug habits, etc.

So that we can process your application it is important that you provide the details we request. We process your application based on your specific situation and examine which options are available to meet your needs.

If you have no other means to support yourself you can obtain försörjningsstöd (social assistance). This means that you must use all the options available to support yourself before you can be entitled to försörjningsstöd (social assistance).

If you have money in the bank or other financial assets, you must use these before you can obtain försörjningsstöd (social assistance).

If you normally have a sufficiently high income that you are above the so-called "standard surplus" according to the Social Services Act, we expect you to have saved and put away money to manage the income shortfall or unforeseen expenses. When we process an application for försörjningsstöd (social assistance), we therefore look at your income from the last three months, and what your situation will be like in the future.

Using all options available to support yourself means, for example:

• That you are registered at the Public Employment Service and are actively looking for work
• That you have not said no to a job or a labour market initiative to which you have been referred and thereby been refused unemployment benefit
• That you been a member of a unemployment benefit scheme while you were working so that you were prepared if you were to become unemployed
• That you do not live more lavishly and expensively than you need to
• That you are aware of which rules apply at, for example, CSN, the Social Insurance Office, the Migration Agency or other authorities, so that you avoid misunderstandings which lead to, for example, financial shortfalls or payments not being made
• That you utilise other financial benefits or payments that are available, such as housing benefit, maintenance allowance, "alfa" unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, parent's allowance or home loan and introduction benefit if you are new to Sweden.

If you have come to Östersunds kommun from an asylum centre

If you have settled in Östersunds kommun on your own initiative after having lived at one of the Migration Agency's centres, you should have planned your economic situation in connection with taking up residence.

The allowance you receive from the Migration Agency should be sufficient for housing, food and other expenses while you obtain another source of income or receive introduction allowance.

You must be extremely thorough when you complete your application for försörjningsstöd (social assistance). If the information you provide is incorrect or misleading it may mean that your försörjningsstöd (social assistance) is incorrect. If we suspect that you consciously provided incorrect information, we are obliged to report it to the police and you may then be convicted in accordance with the law and also obliged to pay money back.

You must also check yourself that we are paying the correct amount of money to you. If we pay an amount to you other than that which is stated in your decision, and it is reasonable to assume that you have understood that the amount is incorrect, then you may also be obliged to pay back the incorrect amount.

Our decision on whether to grant or refuse you försörjningsstöd (social assistance) is based on the Social Services Act and the guidelines that the municipality has drawn up. You are entitled to obtain a written decision where we provide reasons for why you have been granted or not been granted what you applied for.

If you are not satisfied with the decision, you have the right to appeal.