New change of course in the Conselleria de Drets Socials in the management of programs aimed at young people who have left care. The consellera of that Department, Mònica Martínez Bravo, announced this morning in the Parliament that the contract with the UTE Fundació Mercè Fontanilles–Fundació Resilis, responsible for the monitoring and assessment service of the economic benefit (Sevap) for that group, is canceled.
That relationship, after the irregularities detected in the management of this program, will end on December 31 of this year. It will be the Conselleria’s own staff, Bravo announced, who will take over this work from that date.
“The relationship with these entities has ceased to make sense, now we will do it with our own staff,” says the consellera
The consellera stated that this relationship “ceases to make sense” and that the work done by this UTE will be carried out “semi-automatically, with administrative data.” The support for those young people who have left care will be done, she repeated, by Department staff and the monitoring of those aids will be done monthly from now on.
It all started with the complaint of a social educator — now a protected witness by the Anti-Fraud Office — who pointed out the alleged malpractice and supposed abuses of the entities that make up this UTE.
Martínez Bravo reveals that they found a “devastated” Department and that they are putting things in order
Among other irregularities, improper payments have been confirmed, in the investigation so far, to young people who have left care who would no longer meet the requirements to receive that aid.
The Drets Socials Department itself acknowledged the payment of 167 million euros in improper social benefits since 2016, of which only 2% refer to those who have left care, between 2019 and 2022.
Drets Socials awarded, in July 2022, to the UTE formed by Fundació Mercè Fontanilles and Fundació Resilis the service of assessment and monitoring of young people who have left care from the DGAIA, dependent on the Area of Support for Young People in Care and Those Who Have Left Care. These people are those who can benefit from economic benefits derived from Law 13/2006.
The contract, for 5.5 million euros, could be extended for 4 more years, but that option is now ruled out
This award, for 5.58 million euros, covers the entire territory of Catalonia and expires on December 31. It could be extended for 4 more years, which will no longer happen, as the consellera has made very clear.
The Sindicatura de Comptes, the body that controls public contracting in Catalonia, prepared a devastating report, of 373 pages, in which it details the alleged irregularities.
It is limited to the years 2016 to 2024. And it establishes that the “improper payments” made during that period, during which there were four changes in the department, “amount to at least 167.5 million.” Part of that money (almost 7.2 million) will no longer be recovered because the possibility to do so has expired.
