Prime Minister Jean Castex visited the Paris Samu social platform on Sunday evening, expressing his " concern " for the homeless particularly affected by Covid-19, AFP noted.
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" I am not coming to see you to tick a box but to tell you all my encouragement and my admiration, " said Jean-Castex on his arrival in Ivry-sur-Seine, stressing that he had himself created " the Samu social de Toulon ”when he was director of social and health affairs in the Var. " I have a concern because you spoke about the health crisis and there was a prevalence of the epidemic in the audiences that you meet, " he continued.
“ Everyone knows that the health crisis is followed by an economic and social crisis. There too there will be particularly vulnerable audiences. These are subjects that will continue to mobilize the government that I lead ”, he assured. He was greeted by the president of Samu social Alain Christnacht who stressed that there had been “a lot of people infected by the Covid ” among his agents.
He praised the government's so-called “ housing first ” policy of trying to go straight from the streets to housing as “ a good solution ” . But he pointed out " the lack of social housing to offer lasting solutions ". However, according to him, there is the financing but there is a problem of land, the length of obtaining building permits, the cost of land, and sometimes the political will of the mayors ...
Mr. Christnacht also deplores that " the national reception system managed by the Ministry of the Interior is undersized and refers asylum seekers to 115 ", the number of Samu social.
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About half of the people treated are foreigners. In total, the Samu Social de Paris directs towards a stock of 39,000 accommodation places, between the hotels, the centers it owns, the other centers or even the integration housing. It employs 700 people, including 60 people for the 115, and includes eight teams of three people who cover six departments of Ile-de-France and soon all eight. Its budget is 280 million euros, 85% matched by the State and 15% by the City of Paris.