The assessment of a child’s need for assistance considers their coping skills across various aspects of life:

• physical development,
• health, including mental health,
• psychological and emotional state,
• social skills,
• cognitive abilities,
• obtaining an education,
• the family’s economic situation,
• the parenting skills of the person raising the child.

For the assessment, you can contact the child protection official in your area, but they may also reach out to you if information about the child’s potential need for assistance has already been received, for example, from a physician or teacher, by the local government.

When assessing the need for assistance, the child protection official will talk to both the child (if the child’s condition allows) and the parent. Sometimes, other family members or important network members for the child may also participate in the assessment.

The information collected during the assessment is entered into the Social Services and Benefits Registry (STAR) by the child protection official. As a parent, you always have the right to request an extract of your child’s assessment information in STAR.

Mandatory documents that must be submitted for the assessment are not required.  However, it is helpful to have documents describing your child’s condition with you during the assessment, as this way you won’t have to worry about any important pieces of information being forgotten during the assessment. Such documents may include, for example:

• an extract from the medical history,
• a treatment plan,
• a development plan prepared at school,
• a rehabilitation plan,
• the decision establishing disability

or any other assessment or summary describing the child’s condition and need for assistance.

In assessing the need for assistance, Estonian child protection officials rely on the child welfare assessment handbookand the child well-being triangle method. The handbook is a national guide to assessing a child’s well-being in child protection work.

Considering the assessment results and the child’s needs, the child protection official will provide information about potential support services and benefits appropriate for your child. Together, you can decide what kind of assistance is justified at this time. A decision is taken by the local government to organise the necessary service or to grant support. The referral decision will usually also set out the arrangements for funding the service. Some services are fully funded by the local government, while in other cases, a family contribution may be necessary.

For more information about the services and benefits provided by your local government, visit their website or ask the child protection official for clarification.

If you think that your child is not getting the assistance they need or that the quality of the assistance provided is poor, you have the right to challenge the decision or action of the local government. To do this, you must lodge a complaint with the local government within 30 days of receiving the decision. The complaint can be lodged orally or in writing and can be submitted in a free format.

The complaint must state following:

• to whom the complaint has been submitted (name of the local government),
• who is submitting the complaint (your name and contact details),
• a description of the decision or act which is contested,
• the reasons why you disagree with the decision or action taken by the local government,
• a clearly expressed request for what you want the local government to change in its decision or action.

In addition to lodging a complaint, you can also appeal to an administrative court.

As a rule, a decision on whether or not to grant assistance must be made within ten working days of a valid request being submitted. However, a decision can also mean being added to the queue for a service rather than being referred to a service. Also, for some services and benefits, the law provides different deadlines for making decisions. A child protection official will be able to give you more information about the conditions of the services and benefits available in your local government.

There is no single rule on the validity of an assessment of the need for assistance. A new assessment is usually carried out when the child’s need for assistance has changed and they require additional assistance. If a reassessment is needed, the child protection official will arrange it separately. A child protection official will be able to explain in more detail how your local government organises the assessment.

Social Welfare Act

Ministry of Social Affairs

Ministry of Social Affairs – Child in need of assistance
Social Insurance Board – Child helpline – Child welfare assessment handbook