AEEH and PCH: Disability Allowances for Children in France Explained

The French disability support system includes financial allowances that many expat families don't realize they're entitled to claim. If your child has a recognized disability and you're legally resident in France — regardless of nationality — the AEEH (allocation for disabled children) and PCH (disability compensation payment) may be available to you. Understanding the distinction between them, and how each fits into the MDPH application, can make a significant difference to the financial reality of supporting a child with complex needs in France.

AEEH: Allocation d'Éducation de l'Enfant Handicapé

The AEEH is the primary financial allowance for families with disabled children under 20. It is managed by the Caisse d'Allocations Familiales (CAF) but accessed through the MDPH application process. The CDAPH (the MDPH's decision-making commission) grants the AEEH; the CAF pays it.

Who is eligible:

• Children under 20 with a recognized disability that results in at least 50% functional impairment, or between 20-50% impairment with a recognized need for school placement support
• The child must be a dependent of the applicant
• The applicant must be legally resident in France with a valid titre de séjour (not required for EU/EEA nationals)

Amounts (as of 2025-2026):

The AEEH has a base rate (allocated regardless of the extent of additional care needs) plus supplements that scale with the severity of the child's needs:

• Base AEEH: approximately €150/month (the exact figure changes with annual revalorization)
• Supplement 1–6: ranging from approximately €100 to €1,100/month additional, depending on the severity of functional impairment, the number of therapy hours required, and whether a parent has reduced working hours or stopped work entirely to care for the child

The supplement calculation is based on four criteria assessed by the MDPH: the severity of disability, the cost of non-medical care, the cost of adapting accommodation, and the professional impact on the carer.

PCH: Prestation de Compensation du Handicap

The PCH is a separate, more comprehensive payment covering compensation for disability-related costs. Unlike the AEEH, which is a flat allocation, the PCH covers specific, documented costs across five categories:

1. Human assistance (paying a private carer or AESH that the family funds privately)
2. Technical assistance (adaptive equipment, AAC devices, specialized software)
3. Home adaptation (modifications to the family's home to accommodate mobility needs)
4. Vehicle adaptation
5. Exceptional disability-related costs (specific treatments, transport to specialist appointments)

Who can access PCH:

The PCH is primarily designed for children with significant functional limitations. To access PCH for a child (under the PCH enfant rules that have been progressively implemented since 2019), the disability must result in "absolute difficulty" or "severe difficulty" in at least one activity domain.

For most expat families, the AEEH is the more relevant starting point. PCH is more applicable when a child requires significant private-funded human support (common in international school contexts where state AESHs are unavailable) or expensive adaptive equipment.

The CNSA: The National Body Behind the System

The CNSA (Caisse Nationale de Solidarité pour l'Autonomie) is the national agency that oversees disability compensation across France. It provides funding to the MDPHs, sets national guidelines for AEEH and PCH assessments, and publishes reference guides (in French) on what the allowances cover.

The CNSA's website (cnsa.fr) has some English-language materials, but its primary resource is the Mon Parcours Handicap portal (monparcourshandicap.gouv.fr), which includes forms and guidance in French with some accessible summaries.

How the Financial Request Fits Into the MDPH Dossier

The AEEH and PCH requests are made within the same 20-page Cerfa 15692-01 dossier as the educational support requests (PPS, AESH, ULIS). There is no separate financial application form — everything goes in together.

In the dossier, you will need to document:

• The specific disability-related costs the family incurs (therapy appointments, private AESH hours, adaptive materials)
• Any reduction in working hours or professional impact on the primary carer
• Evidence of these costs (invoices, payslips showing reduced hours)

The MDPH evaluation team (Équipe Pluridisciplinaire d'Évaluation, EPE) assesses the full submission and proposes a package to the CDAPH. The financial elements and the educational elements are reviewed together.

Expat-Specific Considerations

Eligibility: EU/EEA nationals resident in France are eligible for AEEH and PCH on the same basis as French nationals. Non-EU nationals with a valid titre de séjour are also eligible. Some categories of visa holders (certain student visas, short-stay visas) may not qualify — check the CAF's current eligibility criteria for your specific residence status.

Tax status: The AEEH is exempt from income tax in France. It also generally does not affect CAF entitlements (family allowances, housing allocations).

What happens when you leave France: AEEH and PCH are French residence-based benefits. They stop when you are no longer resident in France. If a family relocates during a benefit period, they need to inform the CAF promptly.

Comparison With Home Country Benefits

For context on the scale of support:

• UK's Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children pays up to approximately £172/week (over £700/month) at the highest rate
• Australia's NDIS provides individualized funding packages that can be substantially larger, depending on the plan
• France's AEEH base is more modest, but the upper supplements (level 6) can reach comparable monthly amounts for the most severely impacted families

The AEEH at supplement levels 4–6 is meaningful financial support. For families spending thousands of euros annually on private therapy, private AESH hours, and adaptive equipment — common in international school contexts — the supplement can offset a significant portion of these costs.

The France Special Education Blueprint includes specific guidance on how to document disability-related costs in the Cerfa dossier to maximize the AEEH supplement assessment, and explains the threshold criteria the MDPH uses for each supplement level.

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