According to the Act on Social Services aid is provided for persons with permanent impairment of physical or mental function. Social services are provided to compensate the needs following from reduced physical or mental function and improve the individual’s social and personal level of function and potential development.

The municipalities are responsible for providing support for the individual citizen. The municipalities make decisions in social cases based on specific individual assessments of the recipient’s needs and circumstances. Furthermore, the district councils decide the level of services in the municipalities, the content of and the extent of the support, within the scope of the legislation.

The Ministry of Social Affairs, Housing and Senior Citizens has the overall responsibility for coordinating the policies regarding disabled people. But the other ministries share the responsibility for developing the policies. Therefore the policy area rests on the principle of sector accountability, meaning that all ministries must consider disability policy aspects when developing policies within their own scopes of responsibility. For instance, the Ministry of Employment is responsible for the policies regarding disabled people’s participation on the labour market, and the Ministry for Education is responsible for policies concerning the special support in schools and upper secondary educations.

The Ministry of Social Affairs, Housing and Senior Citizens is responsible for policy development within the scope of social affairs. Responsibilities include providing the Minister and the Danish Parliament with the best possible base for developing an effective social policy regarding disability.