Editor TLN
( Spanish) — The second stage of registration for Families in Action is now open in Colombia, a program that provides financial support to families in poverty with minor children and that seeks to reach two million more households.
The second stage of registration It began on July 14 and will run until December 31. Between the 14th and the 17th, the processes began in Cartagena, Montería, Neiva, Bucaramanga, Medellín, Pasto, Barranquilla, Santa Marta, Armenia, Ibagué, Popayán and Manizales.
The Government expects to be able to register in this second semester a little more than two million households of potential beneficiaries.
How do these benefits work?
There are two types of economic incentives possible. One is health, aimed at families with children under six years of age and whose objective is to improve their health in a stage of growth that is considered critical. In this case, an incentive is given regardless of the number of children in that age range in the family.
The second type of incentive is education, for those with children in transitional to eleventh grades. The objective is to reduce desertion, encourage their attendance at educational centers and increase the number of years they spend in the system.
Families, in turn, have to fulfill certain responsibilities. In the case of the incentive for education, for example, they imply that minors are enrolled in educational centers and comply with a minimum of 80% attendance at scheduled classes per bimester.
How to register for Families in Action?
The registration mechanism depends on the number of beneficiary families in the municipality where you live. In places where there are no more than 3,500 potential recipients, they will be carried out directly by the mayors’ offices. In cases where the figure is higher, a logistics operator will generally participate to facilitate the process.
To know when the process begins in your municipality, you must check the updates on the Social Prosperity website.
The owner of the household that is going to register must present the identity documents of the minors that make up the family and will benefit, as well as information related to their education and health care. Specifically, they will be asked for the exact names of the educational center where they study and the Institution that Provides Health Services where children under six are cared for.
Remember that you cannot register in a municipality other than the one in which you were summoned according to the Sisbén IV survey.
According to the Familias en Acción page, when you register you will be asked to sign a social contract in which, among other things, the obligations as a family are stated. At the end of the process they will give you a receipt, but this does not mean that you are automatically part of the program. There is an audit instance where registrations are validated and after it is complete, they will contact you to let you know that you have been registered or request adjustments.
How can I check if I can be a beneficiary of Families in Action?
Through from this link you can check if you are selected for the second stage of registration that opened after the electoral process in Colombia.
To do so, you only have to enter basic information such as name and surname, number and date of issue of the identity document you use.
In order for a household to receive the aid, it must meet three conditions: having been surveyed using the Sisbén IV methodology, being classified in subgroups A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, B1, B2, B3 or B4 of Sisbén IV and that in the home there are minors under 18 years of age.
Remember that being part of this list does not imply that you are already enrolled in the Families in Action program. It means that you can benefit from the aid, but you will have to complete the registration process.
