In Sumy, a mother of many children had her kids taken away but continued to receive benefits. What was the court's ruling?

A mother of multiple children was receiving two types of state assistance for her children. Subsequently, the executive committee of the Lebedyn City Council decided to "take her children away and place them in a foster family." She did not inform social services about this, which is why she is required to return the payments amounting to 2,960 hryvnias. This is stated in the decision of the Lebedyn District Court of the Sumy Region, published on June 26, 2024.

Since June 2021, the woman has been registered with the department, having submitted applications for state assistance upon the birth of a child and state assistance for children raised in a large family. Based on the submitted documents, she was granted and received state assistance for children raised in a large family and assistance upon the birth of a child. At the time of granting assistance, she was warned about the procedure for refusal of granting or terminating payments of the assigned social assistance and the necessity to return overpaid funds in case of providing incomplete or inaccurate information about the family's income and property status, or changes in circumstances that may affect the receipt of assistance.

On April 6, 2023, the department received the decision of the executive committee of the Lebedyn City Council dated March 29, 2023, "On the Immediate Removal of Children from the Mother and Placement in a Foster Family," according to which her minor and two young children were immediately taken away due to an imminent threat to their life and health. According to paragraph 10 of the Procedure for Granting and Paying State Assistance to Families with Children, approved by the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated December 27, 2001, No. 1751, assistance upon the birth of a child is provided to one of the child's parents or guardians who permanently reside with the child, aimed at creating proper conditions for its full upbringing and care. According to paragraph 13 of the specified Procedure, the payment of benefits is terminated in the event of the child being taken away from the recipient without depriving parental rights. The payment is stopped from the month following the month in which the specified circumstances arose by the decision of the authority that granted the benefit. Similar procedures and grounds for terminating the payment of assistance are provided in paragraph 11 of the Procedure for Paying Assistance for Children Raised in Large Families, approved by the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated March 13, 2019, No. 250. Thus, the payment of assistance upon the birth of a child and assistance for children raised in a large family was terminated from April 1, 2023.

According to paragraph 49 of Procedure No. 1751, individuals receiving state assistance for families with children are required to inform social protection authorities about any changes in circumstances affecting the payment of such assistance. A similar obligation is stipulated in Procedure No. 250. The woman was supposed to notify the department about the emergence of circumstances that lead to the termination of payments; however, she did not take such actions, resulting in her receiving social benefit funds in April 2023 without justification due to her unscrupulous actions. On April 20, 2023, and March 5, 2024, she received letters informing her about the termination of payments and the need to return the overpayment of excessively disbursed social assistance; however, by the time of the court appeal, such funds had not been voluntarily repaid.

What was the court's decision? 

The court denied the claim. The social protection authorities failed to prove that there were indeed unscrupulous actions on her part.

“The court's decision to take the children from the woman was made only on July 3, 2023. Therefore, the amounts of state assistance related to the taking of her children based on the executive committee's decision from March 29, 2023, No. 89, are not subject to recovery from her, as this decision does not constitute a decision on the removal of children in the understanding of Article 170 of the Family Code of Ukraine. Furthermore, as the plaintiff claims, she was supposed to notify the department about the emergence of circumstances leading to the termination of payments, namely the removal of her children, but she did not take such actions, resulting in her receiving social benefit funds unjustifiably in April 2023 due to her unscrupulous actions. However, the plaintiff did not provide evidence that she had indeed acted unscrupulously. Thus, at the court's suggestion, the plaintiff's representative did not present evidence that the defendant was summoned, attended the executive committee meeting, or was aware of the decision to take her children. Additionally, the plaintiff's representative did not inform the court how the citizen could have communicated with the labor and social protection department regarding changes in circumstances that could affect her state assistance,” the court emphasized.