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Debate in the Chamber gathered complaints about possible retention of Bolsa Família cards by traffickers and exposed different positions on supervision, social vulnerability, and use of the benefit by homeless people.
The Finance and Taxation Committee of the Chamber of Deputies discussed the granting of Bolsa Família to the homeless population after parliamentarians reported complaints that benefit cards were being retained by traffickers in exchange for delivering drugs to beneficiaries.
Requested by Deputy Kim Kataguiri (Mission-SP), the debate brought together parliamentarians and government representatives around topics such as program supervision, service to the homeless population, and the reach of income transfer.
Published by the Chamber Agency on June 11, 2026, and updated the following day, the record of the hearing reports that the discussion had criticisms about possible deviations and manifestations in defense of the program as an income instrument for families in poverty and extreme poverty.
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Complaints about Bolsa Família cards reach the debate in the Chamber
Kim Kataguiri stated that he received reports about homeless beneficiaries who allegedly left program cards with traffickers as a form of payment for drugs.
During the hearing on the allocation of Bolsa Família resources, the complaint led parliamentarians to advocate for changes in the mechanisms for monitoring the benefit and controlling payments intended for this audience.
Also present in the discussion, Joinville councilor Mateus Batista (Union) stated that the inclusion of the homeless population among federal government priority groups could, in his evaluation, facilitate access to drugs in some cases.
The councilor cited reports attributed to professionals in the area and security forces, but the Chamber’s record does not present a national survey that informs the extent of the complaints or quantifies the mentioned cases.
“And then we see these various reports from all security forces, from all professionals in this area; of homeless people who already leave the Bolsa Família card with the trafficker himself and only go at the end of the month to receive the drug,” said Batista, according to the Chamber Agency.
In the councilor’s evaluation, granting the benefit to this segment of the population should be reviewed, because homeless people would already be reached by other public policies, such as popular restaurants.
Parliamentarians opposed to excluding this audience defended, during the hearing, that access to Bolsa Família be maintained as part of the social protection network intended for families in poverty.
Government advocates fighting hunger as program priority
Deputy Merlong Solano (PT-PI) stated that Bolsa Família served 19 million families in 2025, while the homeless population represented 277 thousand beneficiaries, a number he considered small given the program’s total reach.
According to Solano, the automatic exclusion of this group would not be an appropriate solution, as the complaints presented at the hearing could not be attributed to all homeless beneficiaries.
“What is the solution? Is it to exclude these people from Bolsa Família? No, I don’t believe that is the solution, especially since the number is very small,” said Solano.
The parliamentarian also stated that he does not believe that all homeless beneficiaries are involved in the type of situation reported during the hearing.
Representing the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Edson Lima stated that the immediate purpose of the program is to fight hunger.
In his assessment, chemical dependency should be addressed by other public policies, with the participation of states and municipalities, without removing Bolsa Família’s function of providing a minimum income guarantee.
During the hearing, Lima also stated that the program was responsible for lifting 10 million Brazilians out of poverty and extreme poverty.
The statement was presented by the government representative to argue that any monitoring issues should be addressed without undermining the social purpose of the benefit.
Homeless population in the Unified Registry
The most recent national data available in the Information Report from the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance indicate that, in May 2026, there were 375,623 homeless families registered in the Unified Registry and 277,480 families from this group benefiting from Bolsa Família.
With printing on June 18, 2026, the report states that the last available reference was May 2026.
The data indicate the difference between the total number of homeless families registered in the Unified Registry and the contingent receiving Bolsa Família that month.
They also show that the discussion involves a smaller group compared to the total families served by the program, but one that is in a condition requiring monitoring by social assistance networks.
During the hearing, Kim Kataguiri stated that there is room to improve Bolsa Família.
The deputy cited alleged frauds involving single-person families and declared that, in some cases, the current design could create distortions between individual beneficiaries and larger families.
Kataguiri also stated that there would be an incentive to remain in the program through informal work, an argument used by critics to advocate for greater integration between income transfer, cadastral supervision, and productive inclusion policies.
In the record of the hearing, the Chamber did not present conclusive data on the extent of these situations nor a survey that allows measuring the frequency of the mentioned problems.
Municipal studies show data on social vulnerability and drug use
The Câmara Agency cited a study published in 2020 by the São Paulo City Hall according to which the main reasons pointed out by the homeless population for living in this condition were family conflicts, with 40.9%, and dependence on legal and illegal drugs, with 33.3%.
During the hearing, the data was mentioned as part of the context regarding the care for homeless people and the factors associated with the permanence of this population on the streets.
Another survey cited was the 2024 census by the Rio de Janeiro City Hall, which showed a positive response from 81.8% of the homeless population to the question about the use of any drug, including tobacco and alcohol.
As the indicator includes alcohol and tobacco, the data is not restricted to the use of illegal drugs and should be interpreted according to the methodology cited in the municipal survey.
The discussion in the Chamber focused on two main points: the investigation of reports of card retention by traffickers and the analysis of measures that do not result in the automatic exclusion of homeless people from Bolsa Família.
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