Help in other life situations
The help in other life situations is a service of the German social welfare , which is regulated in § 73 SGB XII .
It serves as a standard for cases that are not covered by the other social welfare regulations, but still require public funding. This must be an atypical need that is not covered by the other social assistance benefits, but has a certain proximity to the assistance in special life situations (benefits according to chapter 5 to 9).
This can be the case, for example, for the costs of exercising the right of access, additional costs for hygiene items due to an outbreak of HIV infection, and also for travel costs to attend a general school as part of compulsory school attendance. Such a claim, however, was denied in the case of school books, for example, even if the state regulations do not provide for an exception for families in need, since this is not an atypical need.
Help in other life situations was particularly important because recipients of unemployment benefit II can also be entitled to this benefit. Since SGB II, in contrast to SGB XII, does not provide for any adjustment of the standard rates for special needs, many benefit recipients tried to receive needs not covered by the standard rate through help in other life situations. Since the standard rate decision of the Federal Constitutional Court and the associated introduction of the additional requirement for atypical requirements in accordance with Section 21 (6) of the Second Book of the Social Code in 2011, such a claim is only likely to exist in exceptional cases today.