Social Rights lowers its tone with former guardians over alleged improper payments

BarcelonaThe Department of Social Rights and Inclusion has described as a "cordial" meeting held this Wednesday by the regional minister, Mònica Martínez Bravo, with five spokespersons for the young people who have been placed in care and whom the Generalitat is demanding to be treated. return between 12,000 and 36,000 euros for alleged "improper payments". At the meeting, which took place early this morning in Parliament, the minister apologized for all the suffering and commotion caused to the group by sending the letters and also expressed her willingness to "support" them in the process of providing the required documentation within the ten-day period. For her part, the ombudsman has requested approval for the forgiveness of these debts, as was already done with the recipients of the guaranteed citizen income.

At the meeting, five young women who were formerly in care provided the voice of the group, conveying to the regional minister their concern and stress over the news of their having to return money due to an administrative error that had nothing to do with them. "She was very empathetic with us," said one of the spokespersons, who also indicated that they were informed that the technicians would review the files one by one to recalculate the actual outstanding debt. She insisted that sending the letters for the review of the files was a "legal obligation."

The young people, organized through a WhatsApp group of more than 130 members, complained about the regional ministry's "improvisation" and criticized the fact that they were being treated like thugs in an ongoing crisis over the management of social benefit payments and the child protection system, which has forced reformulate the old DGAIA by the DGPPIA, with fewer features than its predecessor.

In a statement, the ombudsman, Esther Giménez-Salinas, demands that those affected not have to repay any of the amounts claimed and announces that in the coming days she will present a report on the possible violations of rights suffered by the former wards. In a statement, she reported that in 2025, the institution received around twenty complaints from young people who had been under the guardianship of the Generalitat (Catalan Government) and who denounced delays by the regional ministry in suspending payment of benefits when they reported changes incompatible with receiving them, which consequently generated undue payments. It is not, therefore, that these young people have lied or hidden information to continue benefiting from the aid, but rather that there has been "malfunctioning of the administration."

This is the situation of Natalia, from whom they are claiming 18,000 euros. The 23-year-old woman, who is no longer in the protection system, is criticized for continuing to receive benefits despite leaving Catalonia and moving to the United States, one of the reasons she stopped receiving social security benefits. However, the young woman explains that she signed a document with her representative declaring the benefit's termination, and that during the time she has been living abroad, she has not received anything. She states that the department's notification has left her "stressed and nervous" because, although she is clear that she has done "nothing wrong," she knows that neither she nor any of her colleagues would be able to repay so much money.