Benidorm allocates half a million euros to collaborate with home care for elderly people or people with little autonomy

Benidorm City Council is going to allocate 500,000 euros to help with the home assistance service for elderly people or people with specific needs in the town with limited resources. The Local Government Board has approved the bases for the granting of this aid from the Home Assistance Program (PAAD) for the next year 2024, the beneficiaries, requirements, and amounts to which they can be granted are established, as explained by the Councilor for Social Welfare, Ángela Zaragozí. The councilor highlighted that the City Council "reaffirms its commitment to making the lives of many families who have difficulties better and helping to face the needs that may arise in their homes."

Ángela Zaragozí explained that this aid program is aimed at “defraying the assistance costs that older people have in their homes, with difficulties in caring for themselves in certain tasks or with special needs, so that they can remain in their homes”, as well as improving their quality of life." The councilor for Social Welfare has also stated that with the 500,000 euros that will be reserved for these actions “we guarantee the same economic resources that we have already made effective for the aid in 2023”, a year in which a total of 242 Benidorm residents, of which 195 are active as of today. The total amount allocated so far amounts to 342,227.90 euros.

To be a beneficiary of this line of subsidies, applicants must have legal residence in Spain and be registered in Benidorm for at least one year before applying for this aid, as well as present difficulties in carrying out basic activities of daily life, but not being recognized as people in a situation of dependency. In addition, it is necessary to have a favorable resolution, which will contain the type of assistance in question (personal, educational, and domestic); the intensity (weekly time distribution and number of monthly hours), its duration; the percentage of the price/hour subsidized by the City Council and the maximum monthly amount of the subsidy.

The aid will be granted proportionally to the income of the family or cohabitation unit, according to the economic scale that accompanies the bases and the recommended hours, according to the assessment scale. Likewise, the rules set a maximum limit of 40 hours per month per family or cohabitation unit, as well as a maximum amount of 15 euros per hour, in the case of households with fewer resources.

Applications may be submitted during fiscal year 2024, with a deadline of September 30. However, beneficiaries who have already received this aid during 2023, must formally request their renewal for next year until Thursday, November 23, 2023.

For the granting of this subsidy, a home visit by the corresponding social worker will be necessary, as well as the preparation of the mandatory social report, in which the requirement is accredited and the diagnosis of the situation and the corresponding service proposal is made. Likewise, the municipal Home Assistance Aid Commission will meet monthly and will submit resolution proposals, the approval or denial of which must be made within a maximum period of three months.