Child Protection Workers Demand Social Minister Fulfill Payment Obligations for Residential Staff

Original article: Funcionarios de Mejor Niñez exigen a Ministra de Desarrollo Social cumplir con pagos de turnos a trabajadores de residencias

The National Directorate of the National Association of Officials of the Specialized Child and Adolescent Protection Service (Anfusepna) has declared a state of alert after submitting a formal request to the Minister of Social Development and Family, María Jesús Wulf Le May (pictured).

In the letter, the organization urgently calls for the intervention of the Secretary of State regarding the non-fulfillment of the scheduled payment for shifts that the service’s management had officially announced for October 2026.

According to union leadership, during September, the authorities officially communicated to the teams that the benefit would be realized in the next settlement.

However, this commitment was not fulfilled as the necessary administrative requirements and the processing of the respective decree with the relevant agencies were not completed.

Workers’ associations indicated that the situation goes beyond a mere bureaucratic delay and highlights serious deficiencies in the verification and communication regarding salary matters.

They described the situation as «serious,» considering the challenging conditions under which national residential facilities operate, marked by overcrowding, excessive workloads, and the high complexity of the children and adolescents served.

The leadership emphasized that the commitment of these officials is essential for maintaining continuity in the care and protection of vulnerable children, making it unacceptable that institutional leadership fails to acknowledge and respond to this critical reality.

«In light of this situation, Anfusepna formally requested the Minister of Social Development to investigate the circumstances under which the payment announcement was made without completed processing, evaluating the respective administrative responsibilities,» reported the officials.

They also demanded a formal report on the status of the decree, detailing pending stages and specific reasons that prevented compliance with the announced payments to the workforce.

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