News item | 15-09-2023 | 2:30 PM
At the proposal of State Secretary Van Ooijen of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Council of Ministers has approved the bill ‘Improving the availability of youth care’. The bill stipulates, among other things, that municipalities must cooperate at a regional level when it comes to specialist youth care. With this proposal, this care for the most vulnerable children must from now on be organized at a regional level and, where necessary, at a national level. This contributes to improving the availability of care and reducing administrative burdens. The proposal is part of the Youth Reform Agenda, which was drawn up in June in consultation with the VNG, youth care providers, professionals and client organizations. The Council of Ministers has agreed to send the bill to the Council of State for advice.
Organize the best care for the most vulnerable children
State Secretary Van Ooijen: “Care for the most vulnerable children should be best organised. This care is now under great pressure and appropriate care is often insufficient and not available on time. In the Youth Reform Agenda, we agreed that we can better organize this care at regional and national level. So that the children and families involved receive help more quickly. We are convinced that with this proposal we bring the availability of specialist youth care one step closer. Moreover, we are taking the first step forward with the plans in the Reform Agenda.”
Non-commitment gone
It is currently not possible to properly match supply and demand for specialist youth care and to solve availability problems. This concerns care that is difficult to organize at a local level, for example due to the scarcity of demand or the complexity of the problem. In addition, providers who offer care in multiple municipalities are confronted with many different purchasing procedures, which leads to high administrative burdens. The regional cooperation needed to improve this is now arranged in a way that is too non-binding. This non-binding nature will be abolished in the bill. Municipalities are obliged to organize specialist youth care at a regional level. The purchasing of this care must be more harmonized in a region. The proposal appoints the Dutch Healthcare Authority (Nza) to conduct research into the availability of youth care.
Contribution to the ambition of the Reform Agenda
The Youth Reform Agenda includes more measures to improve the youth system, such as defining the scope of the youth care obligation. All measures together contribute to the ambition of all parties involved to provide the most vulnerable children and families with appropriate help, with the right expertise, at the right time and in the right place. The bill ‘Improving the availability of youth care’ is an important first step towards improving the entire youth care system.