What's Behind the Dismissal of the DGAIA Director by Generalitat

The government of Salvador Illa surprised this week with the sudden dismissal of the director of the Directorate General for Child and Adolescent Care (DGAIA). Isabel Carrasco has been removed without a clear explanation from the Govern. From Social Rights, they argue the need to start from scratch, although Carrasco had only been in her position for six months.

The lack of transparency has fueled all kinds of speculations. Especially because the dismissal occurred the day after the broadcast of a documentary about unaccompanied minors on TV3, where Carrasco was critical of the system. The Govern denies this connection and assures that the decision had been made months ago.

The opacity only further muddies the turbulent situation of this Generalitat body. In particular, after the accusation of irregularities by the Audit Office. They accused the DGAIA of having granted aid to unaccompanied foreign minors without meeting the requirements.

The scandal would have occurred during the ERC government but has erupted now, with the PSC governing. This has also coincided with the debate on the collapse of social services due to the massive arrival of unaccompanied minors in Catalonia. In the midst of the turmoil, the PSC government would have decided to dismiss the entire leadership of the DGAIA and put people they trust to open a new stage.

Controversial Statements

Coincidence or not, the reality is that Isabel Carrasco was dismissed the day after her controversial appearance in the TV3 documentary. The director of the DGAIA assured that the organization tries to help all these young people. But she questioned to what extent it should be done and suggested the need to set certain limits:

We try to provide a response to all those young people who ask us for help. When someone doesn't allow themselves to be helped and is of legal age, the DGAIA also has to set some limits. Until when will we have to attend to them? Until they're 30? Until they're 40?

Carrasco entered into other controversies around unaccompanied minors, such as the need for tests to determine the age of the young people. The director of the DGAIA spoke about the reasonable doubts regarding the age of many of these young people:

It is questioned because many times, with the appearance of the young person, you realize that it is impossible for them to be the age they claimed to be there.

Opinions that fuel the debate about unaccompanied minors in Catalonia and that may be uncomfortable for the Govern at a delicate moment. The opposition criticized in the Parliament session this Wednesday the opacity of the dismissal of the DGAIA leadership. They believe that rather than helping, it adds more suspicions to an organization tainted by the shadow of corruption.

The Govern Tries to Avoid the Controversy

Trying to avoid the controversy, the Govern formalized this Tuesday in the Executive Council the appointment of the new director of the DGAIA. It is Josep Muñoz Luque, who was the manager of Social Welfare Services in the Barcelona Provincial Council.

The socialist government has taken the opportunity to explain the dismissal of Isabel Carrasco. They said they were looking for a "more managerial profile" to open "a new stage" marked by the "increase in minors attended to" that requires the "reorganization of resources." The Govern acknowledges the delicate moment in which the DGAIA finds itself, due to the "tension" and "complexity" of the current situation.