The Generalitat will invest more than 400 million European euros for more than 760 social projects

BarcelonaA decade after the last geriatric residence in Catalonia opened in Barcelona, ​​the Generalitat will build three more in the Barcelona district of Les Corts, in Sabadell and Terrassa. The new centers will have ownership and delegated management, a minority method in the Catalan system, where more than 60% of places are private. The three projects also involve the landing of the new model of residences, revised and approved following the high mortality during the pandemic, and will share the design for a maximum of 90 places distributed by coexistence units, as if they were small apartments

The residences are three of the 765 actions included in the item of 375.2 million euros from the Next Generation European funds that the Generalitat will allocate to the construction and remodeling of infrastructures and social innovation. This is the “biggest investment” in history in the social sector, stressed the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, in the presentation to representatives of the social sector that took place this Friday at the El Born Cultural Center in Barcelona . In the words of the Minister of Social Rights, Carles Campuzano, the multimillion-dollar payments will help the “transformation of the welfare state to adapt to the rules of the 21st century”.

Apart from the new public works (about 35 million euros in total), the Next Generation will also be allocated to the construction of forty new centers for the elderly, people with disabilities or mental illness and to adapt to the new residential model 15 residences for the elderly and people with disabilities (38 million euros more). But will the three new residences serve to cut the waiting list, which is currently around 12,000 people, according to the data compiled by the Third Sector Table? Logically, no. The 270 places are completely insufficient to cover the high demand for people who have already recognized degree III of dependency and, therefore, have the right to a public center, but sources in the sector consulted by the ARA point out the importance of construction of new geriatric homes (publicly and privately owned) and, above all, the recent increase in the PEV (linked economic benefit) to 1,239 euros approved, as it allows families to reduce the co-payment to access a contracted or subsidized place. In this sense, the Secretary of Social and Family Affairs, Lluís Torrens, added that a good recipe against delays is to invest in “health prevention and against unwanted loneliness” to delay entry into the dependency system .

However, the priority of the Department of Social Rights is not the residences but the “deinstitutionalization” of the last years of life to promote that elderly people who do not have any serious or disabling illness can stay at home, with support public when required. Torrens has insisted on saying that the bet for the construction of day centers, as well as the so-called autonomy flats to respond to the growth of the elderly population, which will double in two decades, responds to the desire that the majority wants to avoid entering a residence.

Child care

In his speech, Aragonès stressed that the projects subsidized with European funds range from childhood to old age, so that they cover the entire life cycle of a person, and that for years he has been mistreated by “cuts already overcome” and by the “systematic underfunding of Catalonia”. Thus, the Secretary of Children, Núria Valls, has explained that 1.3 million euros will be allocated to build six of the thirteen new Barnahus throughout Catalonia, specifically in Tortosa, Mataró, Terrassa, Manresa, La Seu d’Urgell and Lleida. These are comprehensive care services for children who have been victims of sexual violence and which prevent them from having to repeat the statements of the facts, since it is the professionals involved in the recovery and investigation process who travel there.

Another item, in this case with 14.7 million euros, will allow the recovery of a space in the old city of rest in Tarragona to turn it into a youth hostel with 556 beds, designed especially for families and vulnerable groups who cannot afford the bill of conventional hotels to spend a few days on holiday.

With regard to social inclusion, the Generalitat will promote an accessibility code with which to break down physical and sensory barriers (auditory and visual, or the combination of both) with kits of communicative accessibility to care spaces and services. These packages will include magnetic loops or tablets to offer interpretation in sign language and, according to the department’s general secretary, Oriol Amorós, will allow people with disabilities to attend events and socialize without problems.

2023-11-10 14:08:51
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