A man had been granted a certain support pursuant to chapter 9, section 9 of the Support and Service for Person with Certain Functional Impairments Act. The man had an administrator to safeguard his rights.

On several occasions, the man informed the social welfare board’s case officer that he was not happy with his residence, and that he did not wish to live there and that he would like another place to live. At other occasions the man expressed that he enjoyed the housing.

Support pursuant to the Support and Service for Person with Certain Functional Impairments Act is based on the requests of an individual. The man’s wishes to receive support was accordingly decisive for the continuation of the support. In the decision, the Parliamentary Ombudsman express that the authority, in a situation such as the current case, when there is ambivalence, tries to motivate the individual to continue to receive support. The processing of the case demonstrated respect for the man’s self-determination and well-established partnership between the man, his administrator and the board.

A matter that was raised during the investigation regarded the repeated contacts that the man had with the board and if these contacts expressed a wish to apply for aid and if the board thereby should have inquired if the man wished to apply for support pursuant to the Social Service Act. According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s understanding the man had expressed himself in such a way that the case officer should have asked him if he wished to apply for aid.

The board seems to have been of the notion that it was up to the man’s administrator to apply for support. Regardless of an administrator’s commitments, an individual may, in certain situations, have their own independence. The Parliamentary Ombudsman express that support pursuant to the Social Service Act entails that an individual should be granted certain independence, in spite of the fact that there is an appointed administrator. Therefore, it was not enough to refer him to his administrator to discuss the matter.

By not clarifying if the man wished to apply for support, the board failed in their processing.