This report analyses some important cash and in-kind social protection provisions available to adults with disabilities (i.e. people aged 18 or above). In line with Article 1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with disabilities (CRPD), “people with disabilities” should be understood as “those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others”. In France, public policies regarding disability mainly refer to the Act on equal opportunity, participation and citizenship for people with disabilities of 11 February 2005, which is the most recent major law in this area and has driven considerable changes. For the first time, the law establishes a legal definition of disability, taking a new approach inspired by the international classification of functioning, disability and health: “Within the meaning of the present law, disability means any limitation of activity or restricted participation in society sustained by a person in his or her environment due to the substantial, long-term or definitive alteration of one or several physical, sensorial, mental, cognitive or psychological functions, a multiple disability or a disabling health condition”. The law affirms the basic rights of people with disabilities, including the right of access and the right to compensation, along with the need to guarantee “the exercise of [...] citizenship and capacity for independence”. To promote the independence of people with disabilities and facilitate access to their rights, the 2005 Act obliges each département1 to establish a local centre for people with disabilities (Maison départementale des personnes handicapées – MDPH). Presented as a “one-stop shop”, each MDPH has a very broad set of missions. Since the 2005 Act, France has not adopted any new major laws on disability. The strategy adopted by the French state currently involves including the issue of disability in various other laws that ostensibly concern other subjects. In France, some specific disability benefits are allocated by MDPHs in order to guarantee a minimum income for people with disabilities, and some benefits designed to compensate for the loss of capacity for work are paid out by the social security system. People with disabilities can also have access to regular benefits, aimed at older people, the unemployed, and social assistance for people on low incomes. In practice, accessing both specific and regular benefits for people with disabilities in France involves a large number of interlocutors (MDPHs, the primary health fund, pension funds, the départements, social action centres, the family benefits fund, etc.). In addition, multiple services and benefits have developed to make it easier for older people with disabilities to remain living in the home. These service-providers come under different legal regimes (regime for authorising care services and/or regime for approval, or a simple declaration for social support), which are administratively and financially complex. Multiple layers of measures are accompanied by a multi-layered range of benefits that people with disabilities are not always aware of, or whose administrative cost may seem disproportionate to the expected benefits, or which they sometimes prefer to forego for fear of the stigma associated with social assistance. Despite several recent reforms designed to improve support for people with disabilities and to promote accessibility to and maintenance in the home, there is still scope for improvement in implementing the CRPD in France. Allocating greater human and financial resources to MDPHs is indispensable to ensure that people are more systematically informed about their rights, and to support them in their applications to make those rights more effective. Better co-ordination between actors and a simplification of administration, applications and procedures are crucial to combat non- take-up and adequately meet people’s needs.