Only 23% of young people who have left care receive financial benefits.

BarcelonaShortly before turning 18, Nico (a pseudonym) applied for the emancipation benefit that young people who have left care are entitled to when they reach the age of majority to ease their transition into adulthood, considering that most lack the emotional or financial support of their families. The process took more than a year, to the point that, with no other source of income, he had to put his studies on hold and go to work.

This boy's case isn't an extreme one, but rather the reality faced by most of the group. Half of the boys don't even apply for the benefit, either because they "don't know it exists" or because they "don't meet the requirements." The fact is that in 2024, only 23% of those who turned 18 received financial aid, which today amounts to a maximum of €778.46 per month, according to a report released this Friday by the Catalan Ombudsman on how support programs for this group work. The remaining 80%, therefore, are left unprotected, contradicting the popular belief that children live off public aid. Furthermore, only 20% of former children in care live in shared housing funded by the Generalitat (Catalan government).

In a press conference, Catalan Ombudsman Esther Giménez-Salinas and the deputy for children, Aïda Rodríguez, agreed to call for greater flexibility in the criteria to address the particular vulnerability and instability that this group faces when they leave the care of the administration. They also pointed out that it is necessary to process the registration and cancellation of aid more quickly when the young person finds a job to avoid having to subsequently face very high amounts in tax or add undue payments of more than 10,000 euros, as claimed by the Generalitat. The ombudsman has insisted on the need to forgive the debt, a solution that has also pointed out the Minister of Social Rights, Mònica Martínez-Bravo.

This delay in receiving aid forces young people to put their life plans on hold and, as in Nico's case, they must find a job and a home as soon as they turn 18, while the average age for emancipation of young Catalans is around 30. The average time to receive this benefit (a maximum of 778.49 euros per month) is just over 10 months, according to the Ombudsman's data, but one in four must wait more than 12 months. All these obstacles and difficulties "impact the training opportunities and coverage of basic needs" of these young people, Giménez-Salinas warned.

Irregularities and Errors

After speaking with and receiving complaints from professionals, the ombudsman notes irregularities and errors in the system, primarily due to insufficient staff to manage the volume of young people leaving care, which has multiplied fivefold in a decade. The ombudsman points out that there has been no increase in staff, which has resulted in an overload of professionals, who on average must handle around 80 cases.

The increase in young people leaving care led the previous government in 2023 to outsource benefit payments to a service jointly awarded to Resilis and the Mercès Fontanilles Foundation, which is responsible for monitoring and evaluating these benefits. Although Giménez-Salinas points out that the processing times have been reduced since then, she criticizes that, on the contrary, there is a "lack of coordination" between services and that it has not been checked for too long whether the young people meet the requirements to continue being part of a support program or that it has not been detected that some of the young people do not pay empty spaces assigned to a young person who no longer lives there because he has found temporary work outside the municipality, but who, according to the ombudsman, is under the supervision and support of the entity.

In line with the desire of the Department of Social Rights to transform the former DGAIA in the DGPPIAThe ombudsman has emphasized prevention to avoid the withdrawal of guardianships from minors and the separation of families, but has warned that professionals in the sector have expressed their concern that, with the new model that is expected to be imposed at the end of the year, the psychoeducational teams that accompany these children once they have reached the age of majority.