Job centre

Citizen 's income - The citizen's income is a basic income or basic security for people who are capable of working and in need. It replaces the former unemployment benefit II, also known as Hartz IV. The citizen's income has been available in Germany since 01.01.2023.

There is an entitlement to the citizen's income:

• In case of need
• If you are basically fit for work
• usually following unemployment benefit I

Need - Need is the amount of money people need to live. This includes the purchase of clothing and food and everything for daily needs (including electricity). This amount is calculated and depends on age and family situation. At the Job Centre it is also called "Regelbedarf".

Bedarfsgemeinschaft - A Bedarfsgemeinschaft, also abbreviated BG, is created when several people from one household apply for benefits (e.g. a family with children under 25, spouses, registered partners or even people who are in a steady relationship with each other). At least one person must be capable of working. So that not all members of the joint household always have to appear for the application, a representative of the joint household can be appointed in writing for certain matters. (see also: Household community)

Notification - If you apply for a citizen's allowance at the Jobcenter Bocholt, you will receive a written answer. This is also called a decision. This decision contains, for example, information on how your application was decided. It will tell you whether your application was approved or not, whether anything has changed, or whether you may have received benefits wrongly and have to pay something back.

Data protection - You have to provide a lot of personal information when you apply for income support at the Job Centre. This is important so that the Jobcentre Bocholt can calculate whether and how much money you are entitled to. However, you can be sure that your data will be handled properly at the Job Centre and that it will be given special protection. There are regulations that the Jobcenter Bocholt strictly adheres to.

Income - Income is money that you receive regularly (e.g. salary, interest, housing benefit, alimony, child benefit, vocational training allowance or rental income). However, one-off income, e.g. tax refunds, utility reimbursements or income from sales also belong to income and must be declared.

Earningcapacity - Earning capacity is the ability of anyone over the age of 15 to work at least 3 hours a day.

Household community - In contrast to the community of need, the members of the household community (also called HG) live together but do not belong to each other. These are, for example, children over 25, foster children, grandparents, uncles and aunts who live in the household with them.

Need for help - You are considered needy by the Job Centre and can therefore generally apply for a citizen's allowance if you do not have enough money to live on or if the money you earn is not enough for the whole family. You are also in need of assistance if you already receive help from other social welfare institutions (e.g. child supplement), but the money is still not enough.

Information - You will always receive information from the Job Centre Bocholt if there are important changes for you. Therefore, please read all letters carefully and ask for more information if necessary. The details of your contact person are at the top right of the letter.

Costs of accommodation (KdU) - The Jobcenter Bocholt will pay for your accommodation and heating costs, provided they are reasonable. This will be calculated by the person in charge of your case. Here you can also ask about the current upper limits for rent or the size of the flat. Even if you live in your own house or flat, the Job Centre will calculate the costs accordingly.

Additional needs/special additional needs - Sometimes the normal standard needs are not enough if you are in special situations. Therefore, it may be possible to apply for additional needs. This is possible if you are pregnant (from the 13th week of pregnancy), have a disability, are dependent on special food or have to buy books prescribed by the school.

Furthermore, there are special additional needs if the costs of living and special reasons are higher. These include, for example, special hygiene products for special illnesses or travel costs for contact with one's own child. Spectacles and dentures do not belong to the special needs!

Duty to cooperate - All people who receive income support must cooperate with the Job Centre. This is also called the duty to cooperate. So you must:

• always give correct and complete information
• be able to prove the information you have given, e.g. by showing documents or certificates
• inform us immediately if something changes in your life that is important for receiving benefits. For example, if you have found a job or your rent has increased.
• submit a certificate of incapacity for work to the Job Centre if you are currently on sick leave.

Pupils - Since every person over the age of 15 is considered fit for work, young people of this age are also invited to the case management of the Job Centre Bocholt. Here, of course, the counselling is about offering pupils the best possible support in their school career, in choosing an apprenticeship or in achieving other professional goals.

Assets - When you apply for citizens' benefits at the Job Centre Bocholt, you also have to declare your assets. These include, for example: bank account balances, cars, motorbikes, life insurance policies, building society savings contracts, land, houses, owner-occupied flats, valuable jewellery or other valuable items.

Priority benefits - Before benefits under the 2nd Social Code can be received, you must first check whether there are not other benefits that must be used first, so-called "priority benefits". These are, for example, child benefit, child supplement, housing benefit, maintenance advance, pension, sickness benefit, parental benefit, BafÖg or unemployment benefit I.

Objection - If you receive a letter with a decision from the Job Centre Bocholt that you do not agree with, you can file an objection. You must submit the objection in writing and give a reason why you do not agree with the decision of the Jobcentre Bocholt.

Question: I would like to apply for Citizen's Allowance, who do I need to contact?

Answer: You can download the applications online, or you can pick them up in the anteroom of the job centre in the arcades. You can then drop the completed applications in the mailbox at the jobcentre, from where they will be forwarded to the relevant staff and processed. You will then receive a reply.

Question: Can I also apply for the citizen's income benefit online?

Answer: Yes, you can find the online forms here

Question: What is the difference between my benefits officer and my case manager?

Answer: The difference between the two is that the benefits officer deals with all financial issues, such as the amount of your entitlement, costs of accommodation, chargeable income, etc. The case manager deals with all financial issues.

The case management takes care of everything that is necessary so that you can start a job, training, further education or initiate other measures for your career path.