News item | 11-11-2022 | 17:30
The cabinet will take extra measures to ease the pressure on youth protection in the short term. In concrete terms, they focus on alleviating the workload for professionals, a priority arrangement for the most vulnerable children and preventing children from families with serious problems from being imposed a child protection measure. With such a measure from the juvenile court, families are obliged to receive help with upbringing. These are necessary steps to ensure acutely better youth protection.
Every child has the right to grow up and develop safely at home. When this threatens to be endangered, help and support must be provided to families to turn the tide. The government can intervene in family life as a last resort to bring the child to safety,” the ministers wrote in a letter to the House of Representatives. “We are very concerned that this support and care is currently lacking, despite the unbridled efforts of the hard-working professionals. We understand the importance and we feel the urgency.”
Relieve workload
Minister Franc Weerwind for Legal Protection and State Secretary Maarten van Ooijen of Health, Welfare and Sport want the youth protectors to be given relief in their work. This can be done by taking tasks off their hands. For example, legal assistants and behavioral experts can provide relief.
In September, the cabinet announced a robust package of measures in the field of youth protection, which is now being expanded further. Next year, for example, 20 million euros will be allocated by municipalities and the central government to reduce the workload of youth protectors, and 10 million euros will be spread over several years to recruit more professionals as lateral entrants. In addition, work is already underway on accelerated structural improvement. It is important that the sector responds to the call not to come up with new policy, but to build on existing good experiences and give them time to do so. This prevents the workload from increasing.
Priority in allocating youth care
The ministers call on municipalities and providers to give priority to children with a protection measure from the court when allocating youth care. An exception is made if the request for help from children without a measure is more urgent. From the second quarter of next year, an assessment framework will be drawn up to determine how the assessment can be made.
In addition, the cabinet will introduce measures aimed at reducing the number of children referred to youth protection. In practice, youth protection is still too often called in for, for example, a complex disputed divorce and parenting problems in the family due to high debts or addiction, while this can be prevented by offering help and support earlier. As a result, fewer children need youth protection and there is less pressure on it.