Belgium Reaches Record Disability Support, But 18,000 Still on Waiting List

A record 107,439 people with disabilities received support from the Flemish Agency for Persons with a Disability (VAPH) in 2025, marking an increase of more than 10,000 compared to 2022. Yet despite this growth, approximately 17,889 individuals remained on the waiting list for a personal budget (persoonsvolgend budget / PVB) at the end of 2025, with some having waited more than a decade, according to VRT NWS.

Context: The VAPH System

The VAPH is the Flemish government agency responsible for supporting people with disabilities in Belgium’s Flanders region. It offers several forms of assistance, including personal budgets (PVB) that allow individuals to purchase tailored care and support, personal assistance budgets (PAB) for children, and directly accessible help (rechtstreeks toegankelijke hulp / RTH) — faster, less flexible support available without a formal application procedure.

By the end of 2025, 31,312 people had a personal budget — a nearly 25% increase in five years — with over 5,000 new budgets granted in 2025 alone. Over 37,000 people used directly accessible help in 2025, a 35% increase compared to five years ago. The number of personal assistance budgets for children doubled to 2,554 over the same period, and more than 10,600 children and young people received help through multifunctional centers.

The Waiting List Challenge

Despite these gains, the waiting list for personal budgets remains stubbornly high. “People get into financial trouble because they have to pay for their care themselves, or they have to rely on a network that isn’t always there,” Gwen Dekeuleneer of Kannet vzw told VRT NWS.

For those in the highest priority group — individuals with the most severe care needs — the waiting list has been virtually eliminated, with budgets granted within 15 months. However, the vast majority of those waiting fall into lower priority categories, facing years of uncertainty.

Nathalie Van den Bergh, who has cerebral palsy and has been on the waiting list for five years, described the daily struggle: “There is a large supply of help, but if you have to pay for everything yourself, it quickly adds up.” She worries that the proposed reforms could leave her without access to the flexible support she needs. “If other help had sufficed, I would never have applied for a personal budget,” she said.

The Reform Plan

Flemish Minister of Welfare Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) is pursuing a reform aimed at addressing the structural waiting list problem. The plan would restrict personal budgets to those with the most severe care needs while expanding directly accessible help for others. The Flemish government is investing €478 million this legislative term in care and support policy for people with disabilities.

“The annual figures confirm why reform is absolutely necessary,” Gennez said. “Flanders invests more resources year after year in support for people with disabilities. Yet we see that the gap is widening between people who already have support and people who wait for years without perspective.”

VAPH spokesperson Liesbeth Van Houdt emphasized the advantages of the RTH pathway: “Many people are also very well helped with that RTH. One of the great advantages is that it involves less administration than a personal budget and that help is available more quickly.”

Advocacy Concerns and Protests

Advocacy groups including GRIP, Kannet vzw, FURIA, and the Actiegroep Recht Op Ondersteuning have raised serious concerns. They argue that directly accessible help lacks the flexibility of personal budgets — it is often only available during office hours, does not cover transportation needs, and limits self-determination.

On May 22, 2026, a protest organized by the group “Ongehoord Niet Akkoord” took place at the Martelaarsplein in Brussels, with GRIP and other organizations participating. A further protest is planned for June 14 in Hasselt.

GRIP has also condemned the government’s continued legal appeals against court rulings that declared a previous “half-budget” experiment unconstitutional. “Stop this unequal fight against people with disabilities who are defending their right to a full personal budget,” GRIP said in a statement.

Looking Ahead

The reform presents a difficult balancing act for Minister Gennez: managing growing demand for disability support within budget constraints while addressing a waiting list that leaves thousands in limbo. Advocacy groups warn that restricting access to personal budgets could create a two-tier system that undermines autonomy for people with disabilities.

As the debate continues, key questions remain unanswered: Will expanded RTH capacity be sufficient to meet demand? How will the reform affect people who work outside standard hours? And will the government halt its legal appeals against the half-budget rulings? The answers will determine whether Flanders can achieve its goal of truly inclusive support for all its citizens with disabilities.