Charitable Cash Assistance from SOS Children's Villages

The "Cash Assistance" programme, implemented by the charitable organization SOS Children's Villages Ukraine, is aimed at providing targeted financial assistance to vulnerable categories of families with children. The programme's goal is to support families who take children in for upbringing, help cover basic needs, and facilitate the adaptation and development of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The programme covers several key areas of support:

• Assistance for adoptive parents: Support for families who adopted children between October 1, 2025, and December 31, 2026. A special focus is placed on assisting families who have taken in children with disabilities, children over 7 years old, or multiple children at once.
• Support for family-based care: Payments for family-type children's homes (FTHs), foster families (FFs), and guardians who took in children between December 1, 2025, and December 31, 2026.
• Reimbursement of expenses for returning from abroad: Compensation (up to 35,000 UAH per household) for families travelling abroad to take children from evacuated institutional care facilities, as well as for FTHs and FFs returning to Ukraine for permanent residence.
• Housing rental assistance: Financial support to cover the cost of renting property for large families, guardians, FFs, and FTHs who have IDP status and reside in specified regions of Ukraine.
• Promotion of employment and education: Grants for professional training (in both individual and group formats) for IDPs aged 18 and older who are beneficiaries of SOS Children's Villages programmes, aimed at increasing their competitiveness in the labour market.

Conditions, payment amounts, and registration procedures vary significantly depending on the chosen area of assistance. A common requirement for all programme participants is the mandatory submission of a report on the targeted use of the received charitable funds.

Assistance can be received by:

• Adoptive parents: Families who adopted a child/children (especially children with disabilities, older than 7 years, two or more children) within the specified period. This includes adoptive parents who are IDPs.
• FFs, FTHs, and guardians: Two or more children were placed (in exceptional cases — one child, if it is a confirmed family guardianship) within the specified period.
• Families returning from abroad:
  • Families travelling abroad to take children evacuated as part of institutional care facilities.
  • FTHs and FFs returning to Ukraine for permanent residence.
• Housing rent: FTHs, FFs, large families (3+ children), and guardians who have IDP status. Priority — IDPs registered after February 24, 2022. Geography: a defined list of 15 regions and the city of Kyiv.
• Professional education: IDPs aged 18 and older who are beneficiaries of SOS Children's Villages programmes. Priority: youth among orphans, children deprived of parental care, and families in difficult life circumstances (DLC). Geography: 8 regions and the city of Kyiv.

Territorial restriction: Assistance is not provided in areas of active hostilities (according to the list).

The programme is divided into several areas with different payment conditions:

• For adoptive parents: 10,800.00 UAH per child. If a child with a disability or special educational needs is adopted — 14,400.00 UAH. The payment is made in one lump sum.
• For foster families (FFs), family-type children's homes (FTHs), and guardians: 10,800.00 UAH per child. The payment is made in one lump sum.
• Reimbursement of expenses for returning children from abroad: The maximum payment amount per household is up to 35,000 UAH. Documented actual expenses incurred (transport, accommodation, life insurance abroad) are covered. Assistance for FTHs and FFs returning for permanent residence is provided in two tranches and covers only transport expenses.
• Housing rental assistance: The amount depends on the family's place of residence (according to the rental cost calculation). Payment of utilities and additional charges is not covered.
• Financing of professional education (individual format): Payment is made in two stages — 50% before the start of training and 50% after receiving the certificate.

• Financial support for families who took children in for upbringing (adoption, guardianship, FFs, FTHs).
• Compensation for logistical expenses for returning evacuated children from abroad.
• Payment of housing rent for IDPs (FTHs, FFs, large families, guardians).
• Payment for professional training (IT, beauty industry, health care, marketing, finance, social work, psychology, culinary, driving courses) for IDPs over 18 years old.

• When adoption or guardianship took place:
  • Financial support is provided to families who adopted a child or children between October 1, 2025, and December 31, 2026, inclusive.
  • Assistance is also available to families who took children under guardianship, created a foster family, or a family-type children's home between December 1, 2025, and December 31, 2026.
• Deadline for submitting a request (for families taking children from abroad): An official request letter from the children's service can be sent directly while the children are abroad, or within 30 days after their return to Ukraine.
• (Final deadlines for submitting applications for other areas, such as rental or training assistance, are not currently specified by the organizers).

• Assistance for adoptive parents, FFs, FTHs, guardians, and rental assistance: Fill out the corresponding online form by following the links on the Organization's page.
• Reimbursement of expenses for returning from abroad (and for returning FFs/FTHs): Applicants apply to the children's services at their place of residence. The service generates an official request letter and sends it to the e-mail address office@sos-ukraine.org.
• Professional training:
  • Individual format: fill out a separate online form and prepare a motivation letter.
  • Group format: fill out the corresponding online form.

Basic package (for most programmes):

• Consent to the processing of personal data of the applicant and the child/children.
• Application of the child's legal representative.
• Copies of the applicant's documents (passport, document on the place of residence, RNTRC).
• Copy of the child/children's birth certificate.
• Information about the applicant's bank details.

Additional documents (depending on the area):

• For adoptive parents: Consent to the processing of adoption secret information, copy of the court decision on adoption.
• For FFs, FTHs, guardians: Copies of documents on the creation of FFs, FTHs, establishment of guardianship.
• For IDPs (rent/training): Copy of the IDP registration certificate, copy of the large family certificate (for rent).
• For rental assistance: Copies of title documents for the housing, copy of the landlord's RNTRC, copy of the lease agreement.
• For returning from abroad (official request from the children's service): Confirmation of the children's placement (copy of the decision), information about the location, estimated route, petition/preliminary calculation of transport expenses (for returning FTHs/FFs).
• For training (individual format): Motivation letter.

A mandatory requirement for all programme areas (assistance for adoptive parents, FFs, FTHs, guardians, return from abroad, and rental assistance) is the submission of a Report on the use of funds by the Applicant. For compensation of expenses from abroad, it is necessary to provide documentary evidence of actual expenses incurred (receipts, bills, contracts, etc.). To receive rental assistance, the Organization conducts a legal verification of the title documents for the housing.

• Territorial restrictions (combat zones): Financial support is provided throughout the territory of Ukraine, except for those regions included in the official list of areas of active hostilities approved by the authorized state body. Assistance in such zones is possible exclusively in the event of the official inclusion of the end date of hostilities in the list.
• Territorial restrictions (for individual programmes): Housing rental and training payment assistance is available only in the regions of Ukraine strictly defined by the organizers (mostly central, western, and partially southern regions).
• Legal verification of real estate: To receive housing rental assistance, the Organization conducts a mandatory legal verification of the property. The applicant must provide copies of the title documents for the housing, a copy of the landlord's RNTRC, and an officially concluded residential lease (tenancy) agreement.
• Consent to data processing and observance of secrecy: All applicants are required to provide consent to the processing of their own personal data and the child's data. In cases of adoption, applicants also sign a consent to the processing of information that constitutes an adoption secret.
• Official documentary confirmation of status: Participation in any of the programme's areas is possible exclusively with the availability of official documents: court decisions on adoption, documents on the creation of FFs/FTHs, decisions on establishing guardianship, IDP certificates, or large family certificates.
• Procedure for returning from abroad: Compensation for the return of evacuated children from abroad cannot be initiated by the applicant independently. This requires an official request letter and petition from the authorized children's service at the place of stay.
• Mandatory reporting: A legally binding condition for all aid recipients is the provision of a detailed report on the targeted use of the received charitable funds.