Applying for social care support in Maastricht: how it works

Help in the home, a stairlift, a mobility scooter, day activities or transport: in Maastricht that runs through the Wmo, the Social Support Act. Many people dread the application. Below is how it works, step by step, and what you may expect.

Where to report

You start with a report. There are three ways:

• Ring 14 043 (Monday to Friday, 08.30 to 16.30)
• Email wmo@maastricht.nl
• Through the Social Team in your neighbourhood, at sociaalteammaastricht.nl

Maastricht has eight social teams, each with its own neighbourhood and phone number. Not sure which one covers you? Ring 14 043 and they will put you through.

Report or application: the difference matters

The distinction sounds bureaucratic, but it determines your rights. A report is the starting signal. An application is the formal step that comes later, after the investigation.

The legal deadlines hang on those two moments. So always know which of the two you have made, and ask if it is not clear.

The steps

• Report — you set out what you are struggling with
• Investigation and conversation — often at your home, looking at your whole situation, not just at what you asked for
• Written record — you receive what was discussed on paper. Read it carefully and correct anything wrong
• Application — the formal step
• Decision — in writing, stating how you can object

The deadlines

• After your report the council has a maximum of six weeks for the investigation
• After your application it has a maximum of two weeks to decide

Is the investigation taking longer than six weeks? Then you may submit the application anyway, even if the investigation is not finished. That stops the matter drifting.

Free help hardly anyone knows about

You are entitled to free independent client support. That is someone who stands beside you rather than acting for the council, who thinks along with you and comes to the meeting.

The council is legally obliged to point this out. If it does not, ask for it yourself. It costs you nothing and it often makes a real difference.

Preparing for the conversation

• Write down what goes wrong on a bad day, not a good one
• Bring someone with you — four ears hear more than two
• Ask for the written record and read it through
• Ask straight away what the personal contribution will be

Stuck?

SAB’s help desk helps free of charge: with the report, with the conversation, or with objecting to a decision. For every resident of Maastricht, regardless of whether or how you vote.