The Difficulty of Realising Aid for People with Mental Disabilities in Badung

Realising aid for people with mental disabilities in Badung has proven difficult. Monthly assistance of Rp 1 million for more than 500 mentally disabled individuals who have no nuclear family is threatened with delays due to a number of issues. Residents with mental disabilities who are alone or lack a nuclear family, whether parents, spouse, or children, face administrative hurdles. Because there is no legal guarantor from the family, the legal status regarding relatives entitled to represent them must first be determined through the courts. Hearings to establish this legal status are conducted at the Denpasar District Court. However, this legal process is causing delays due to a limited quota of only 25 cases per week. Head of the Badung Social Service, I Gde Eka Sudarwitha, revealed that this situation has created a very long queue for the completion of guardianship status. As a result, the Rp 1 million monthly funds they desperately need cannot be disbursed on time until the legalities are completed. “It turns out in the field there are over 300 people who still have capable blood relatives who, according to the provisions, can act as guardians or curators. However, there are more than 500 people who truly have no blood relatives, meaning no father, mother, or children, only other kin,” Sudarwitha said on Monday (15/6/2026). For context, the Badung Regency Government designed a social assistance programme providing Rp 1 million per person per month for people with mental disorders. The programme also targets people with physical disabilities and was launched in January 2026. Meanwhile, the Social Service is prioritising the acceleration of fund disbursement for mentally disabled residents who have completed the administrative requirements. Of the 912 recorded persons with mental disabilities, over 300 have blood relatives, so their social assistance can be channelled to their respective accounts by July at the latest. “We have recorded a total of 912 persons with mental disabilities. However, according to the leadership’s directive, the assistance for the over 300 who have blood relatives will be realised immediately. This is so the disbursement can be fast. At the latest, it will be distributed in July,” Sudarwitha explained. As a concrete step, the Badung Regency Government is currently revising the regent regulation governing the distribution of this social security. Sudarwitha explained that the old regulation required all beneficiaries to go through the lengthy guardianship and curatorship process in court. Through the improved regulation, the government will provide a more flexible legal basis. Beneficiaries who still have blood relatives will be separated into a different pathway so their financial aid can be disbursed directly without obstacles. “Previously, the regent regulation required everyone to go through guardianship and curatorship. Now, those with blood relatives will receive direct disbursement. We are drafting the regulation to provide a legal basis, so we are currently making improvements to the regent regulation,” Sudarwitha asserted.