Municipality of Apeldoorn: applying for social assistance

You can apply for social assistance from the municipality of Apeldoorn if you meet the following additional conditions:

• You live in the municipality of Apeldoorn. 
• You do not yet receive an Algemene Ouderdomswet – AOW (State Pension).
• Do you live with your partner or have a joint household with someone? If so, the income and savings of that person are also taken into account.
• You are participating in activities offered to you by the municipality of Apeldoorn to find work.
• You must understand, speak, read and write Dutch to a sufficient standard. You are entitled to social welfare assistance even if your Dutch is not good enough. However, the municipality may reduce your welfare benefit if you do not do your best to learn Dutch.
• Are you between 18 and 27 years old? If so, you can also apply for social assistance on the condition that, first, you actively look for work or education for 4 weeks.

If you temporarily do not have enough income to make ends meet, you may be able to get social assistance benefits. Below you can read how this works.

Applying for benefit is done in a number of steps.

1. Check
   First, you check whether you may be entitled to social assistance benefit. This happens automatically when you make an appointment online.
2. Appointment
   you may be entitled to social assistance benefit, you can go through to make an appointment with a staff member. If there is another option, you will read that too.
3. Interview
   You will have two interviews. In these interviews, you will discuss your personal situation. Your situation determines whether you can get social assistance benefit. And how high the benefit will be for you. Do you have a partner? If so, you must attend the interviews together. 

First interview

At the first interview you will need:

• A valid proof of identity (no driving licence). Do you have an identity card or passport without a BSN? Then also bring a document showing your BSN.
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Your job applications from the past 2 months
   

You are obliged to apply for benefits. This means that you do your best to find and accept paid work. In the first interview, we discuss your job opportunities with you.

Second interview

The first interview is followed by a second interview. During this interview, we will discuss your situation in more detail. We discuss the results of your job applications. We also indicate whether you are entitled to benefits.