Facts
A., born in 1970, suffers from a persistent personality and behavioral disorder as well as cognitive impairments as a result of a long-standing severe drug addiction. The IV office of the Canton of Zurich has been paying him a disability pension since August 2012. However, it refused to grant him a helplessness allowance despite the demonstrated need for practical life assistance, as the insured person lives in a home.
The Social Insurance Court of the Canton of Zurich upheld the appeal filed against this and awarded A. compensation for mild helplessness from March 1, 2016 onwards. The housing integration service of the City of Zurich, the so-called Assisted Living (Bewo), cannot be considered a home.
The IV office appeals to the Federal Supreme Court, requesting the annulment of the lower court's decision and the confirmation of its rejection decision of April 25, 2018.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses the appeal. It states that when examining whether an institution should be considered a home, the scope and intensity of the care services provided by the institution must be appropriately taken into account. The helplessness allowance for practical life assistance is intended to prevent or at least postpone the entry of insured persons living at home into residential institutions. This goal would be undermined if collective living forms with an effective care service of less than 2 hours per week were already to be classified as homes within the meaning of the Disability Insurance Act.
In the present case, it is not necessary to go into the criteria for…