News item | 07-10-2025 | 14:15
The Senate today agreed to the bill improvement availability of youth care. The law is thus passed. The law must ensure that (high) specialist youth care becomes better available for children and families who need this care.
The bill is an important part of the Youth Reform Agenda, for which the Ministries of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) and Justice and Security (JENV) are jointly responsible. The Youth Care Improvement Act will start on January 1, 2026.
State Secretary Judith Tielen (Youth, Prevention and Sport): “This bill is a crucial step in improving the availability of specialized youth care. That is necessary, because currently children and parents who need (high) specialist youth aid still have to wait too long. Think help with complex addiction problems or in a crisis situation. These children and parents must be able to count on the government.”
Municipalities must work together
The new law obliges municipalities to collaborate regionally in the purchase of (high) specialist youth care. It is also recorded which forms of care must at least be purchased jointly. This ensures a better spread and availability of this specialist help throughout the Netherlands.
Fewer administrative burdens, more time for care
The law also lays the foundation for more uniformity, for example in registering data. This makes information, such as waiting times, better comparable between regions. This helps to identify in time where bottlenecks arise.
By working together regionally, municipalities and healthcare providers can work more efficiently and save on administration. This leaves more time for the actual care for children and families.
Better insight and supervision of youth care
The law sets demands on the financial management of youth aid providers. This must prevent financial problems from providers to lead to care failure. In addition, the tasks of the current youth authority are laid down by law. This becomes part of the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa), which also gets a new task: the early identification of risks in the availability of specialist youth care, based on better comparable data. For example, municipalities and providers can take measures earlier if necessary.