Abstract: The social assistance for the homeless people with mental retardation in rural areas is the blind spot of the social assistance system in China. The rescue work for that group should be carried out on the basis of such characteristics as drifting away from the household registration management, mental retardation, life dependent on others, etc.. A whole set of social assistance legal system should be designed, covering such aspects as the rescue mode, the rescue time limit and the system of laws and regulations, which has strong applicability and is consistent with the value orientation of social assistance at this stage, so as to better safeguard the rights and interests of the mentally retarded homeless people while improving the legal system of social assistance at the same time.

Key words: social assistance; Social Assistance Act; rural homeless people with mental retardation