Brazil audit finds millions of Bolsa Família families untrackable

A federal audit by Brazil's Supreme Court of Accountancy (TCU) revealed that a large share of Bolsa Família beneficiaries cannot be located by public monitoring systems. The report showed that 35.8% of children enrolled for health follow‑up and 13.7% of families monitored for school attendance are invisible to the databases, meaning payments continue without verification of required conditions. The TCU identified outdated Cadastro Único records, high mobility of low‑income families, and poor integration among municipal, state and federal data systems as primary causes, and ordered the federal government to present an action plan to strengthen program management.

In the city of Volta Redonda, municipal officials warned families that failing to update their CadÚnico information could lead to suspension or loss of benefits such as Bolsa Família, the BPC and other social programs. About 9,000 of the city’s 48,000 registered families need to renew their data, and officials urged them to visit local service centers with proper documentation to avoid disruptions.