But even if the reform was to be postponed for a few weeks, the Brussels CPAS affirm this: they will not be ready to welcome the excluded unemployment which will knock on their door to be able to benefit from the social integration income (RIS). It is estimated that more than 180,000 people (40,000 in Brussels, 57,000 in Flanders and 80,000 in Wallonia) are affected by this exclusion which will take place in several stages.
A letter signed by the secretaries general of the Brussels CPAS
The secretaries general of all the CPAS in the Brussels Region wrote to the municipal councils and colleges of the 19 municipalities in the capital, the CPAS councils and the federal government to tell them that there is “a major risk ” that many Brussels CPAS are not ready “January 1, 2026 and the months that follow “.
Several reasons are put forward to justify this “major risk “. First of all, the CPAS consider that they do not have the staff necessary to process all these new files. The shortage of labor is watching. “”Regardless of any financial consideration, explain the secretaries general in their mail that Free was able to consult, All the CPAS of the country will seek agents who have the same skills profile together and massively. These workers are already rare on the job market, so that overall and on the country level, it is mathematically impossible that all the agents necessary to ensure help for these people are engaged in time. ” The Brussels CPAS fear that the CPAS of the other regions of the country which offer more competitive scales engage agents currently committed to their service. The financing of the CPAS would also not allow to face the commitment of new agents.
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A second important problem is advanced: the lack of infrastructure. “”Both in terms of the reception of users and space reserved for staff, it is necessary to comply with certain standards to guarantee the well-being of people (between 12 and 15 m² gross per agent with regard to staff) “. CPAS managers recall that significant fittings, buildings extensions or the purchase of new buildings are subject to strict public procurement rules.
Finally, they fear that the difficulty of ensuring an optimal reception of the new seekers of Ris Engendre “Aggressiveness, even physical violence “ with regard to agents. And that it plunges people into very complicated social difficulties and not in accordance with human dignity.
An unsuitable calculation
On the Walloon side, we are not very reassured either by this important influx of people to the CPAS, at least in the big cities that are Liège, Charleroi, La Louvière, Mons, Seraing, etc. All the more, we are told under the cover of anonymity, that “We believe that it will not be 30 % excluded that will come to CPAS but rather 50 % in medium terms. Those who should disappear from radars will bet on family solidarity, may be a couple for bad reasons, avoid separating for such bad reasons and finally knocking on the door of the CPAS in the following months “. Especially since this figure put forward by the Arizona majority of 30 % excluded which will go to the CPAS, 30 % who will find a job and 30 % which will disappear from radars is based “On a calculation that was made at the time when the Di Rupo government excluded young people from waiting allowances. The profiles are not the same. It is difficult to imagine that a third of people who have stayed unemployed 20 years and more easily find work “.
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