Twenty social services centres re-open to continue providing support for the most vulnerable

21/05/2020 - 17:26

Social services. Services provided in person will prioritise support for dependent people, young children, the elderly and cases of gender violence.

As from Monday, 25 May, twenty social services centres in the city will be open to the public again. During the first two months of the state of emergency for Covid-19, social services have attended to 34,385 people by phone or online, with emergency face-to-face services also operated by the nine centres which remained open to the public.

The opening of twenty social services centres provides more extensive face-to-face support for vulnerable individuals and groups.

Calendar for opening social services centres

The twenty centres opening from 25 May are concentrated in the districts of Ciutat Vella and Nou Barris, where demand is highest.

All centres offering services in person will apply extra hygiene and safety measures to avoid infection by Covid-19 and preserve the health of workers and users alike.

Appointments can be made using the usual social services number (936 1977 311) or going in person to the centres open for emergencies in each district. Support will continue to be available online and by phone, and in person if the situation requires.

The exceptional timetable for face-to-face support at social services centres is from Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 2 pm. The timetable for phone support is the same as usual: from Monday to Thursday, 9 am to 2 pm and 4 pm to 7 pm, and Friday from 9 am to 2 pm. Outside of these hours, emergencies will be handled by the CUESB.

Social services centres providing face-to-face support by district:

  • Ciutat Vella: CSS Raval Sud, CSS Raval Nord and CSS Casc Antic
  • L’Eixample: CSS Antiga Esquerra de l’Eixample and CSS Fort Pienc
  • Sants-Montjuïc: CSS Cotxeres de Sants and CSS Poble-sec
  • Les Corts: CSS Les Corts
  • Sarrià – Sant Gervasi: CSS Sarrià
  • Gràcia: CSS Camp d’en Grassot and CSS Vila de Gràcia
  • Horta-Guinardó: CSS Horta and CSS Baix Guinardó
  • Nou Barris: CSS Porta-Vilapiscina i Torrellobeta, CSS Turó de la Peira and CSS Roquetes
  • Sant Andreu: CSS Garcilaso and CSS Franja Besòs
  • Sant Martí: CSS Clot – Camp de l’Arpa​ and CSS Besòs

Priority for those most at risk

Facilities will prioritise support for individuals and groups in urgent situations, such as young children at risk, cases of gender violence, elderly or dependent people with no support network and situations of extreme needs.

Support from social services during the state of emergency

During the Covid-19 crisis, social services have kept working to provide support online and by phone, with face-to-face services also available and nine emergency centres. Since the start of the state of emergency, services have attended to 34,385 people, 72% of them women and 28% men. Of these, 17% cases were people never attended to by social services before or who had not required services for over a year, an indicator of the increase in situations of risk caused by Covid-19.

In terms of specific services provided during the state of emergency:

  • Emergency aid payments: in the last two months, 9,292 subsidies have been awarded to mitigate situations of risk, in particular costs relating to food and housing, with an overall value of 3.93 million euros. The increase in benefits compared to the period before Covid-19 has been considerable: 2,156 subsidies were approved in February, with an overall value of 1.47 million euros.
  • Barcelona Solidària cards: an extra 12,000 units were added to the 17,000 cards distributed for holders to be able to buy food and essential items, to help reach those most vulnerable.
  • Daily meals: thanks to collaboration from various social entities, municipal food services are currently distributing 11,150 meals a day through home-deliveries, soup kitchens, facilities for the homeless and other extraordinary measures. The distribution of daily meals has gone up by 192% since the start of the state of emergency (3,810 meals a day were distributed in the period before Covid-19).