REHABILITATION BENEFITS

Hutt News, Volume 19, Issue 12, 22 August 1945, Page 9

REHABILITATION BENEFITS

DEPENDANTS OF DECEASED SERVICEMEN. ]n spite of previous advices there still seemed to be numbers of widows and dependants of deceased servicemen who did not realise thai they were eligible to appply for Rehabilitation benelits under the terms of the Rehabilitation Act and its amendments, says a statement just issued by the Rehabilitation Department. The position was that widows, widowed dependant mothers and dependent children of servicemen who died as a result of their service were given Rehabilitation rights equal to those of ex-service-men though having regard to the individual needs in each case. Tney could apply for such assistance in the usual way, that is, through their local Rehabilitation Office. Every case was treated with regard to the circumstances of the applicant. This particularly applied to loans for houses, farms and businesses. Until the end of June only one dependant of a deceased serviceman had been assisted on to a farm; there had, however, been 64 who had been given financial help either to build or buy a home, three who had received loans to start businesses, 56 who had been advanced interest-free loans to purchase furniture, one who had received a special purposes loan of £100, while special grants amounting to more than £1000 had been made to quite a number of others to overcome necessitous circumstances. Others still had taken advantage of the Rehabilitation Board's educational grants and other forms of educatoinal assistance. "The Rehabilitation Board realises its responsibility to dependants of men who liave died in the service of their country," adds the statement, "and is naturally anxious to do everything within the scope of the Act consistent with present difficult supply conditions. As soon as the supply of labour and materials becomes more plentiful, those in this category will, in common with all ex-servicemen, benefit accordingly, especially with regard to their housing needs. Even now, besides being eligible for housing loans widows and dependants of deceased servicemen, particularly those with families are included in the 50 per cent preference group for State housing, though of course this is qualified by their present housing conditions.