News item | 18-04-2025 | 12:10
Too many children and families in vulnerable situations have been waiting for suitable youth care for too long. At the same time, the demand for and expenditure on Youth Care has only increased sharply in recent decades. That is not tenable for the long term. If children need help in vulnerable situations, then it must be there. That is why between 2025 and 2027, the government will release a total of almost 3 billion euros extra for youth care. State Secretary Vincent Karremans (Youth, Prevention and Sport) also takes solid measures to ensure that the sustainability of youth care is improved, children do not unnecessarily end up in youth care and if care is needed, they receive appropriate care in the right place, without getting lost in a forest of processes.
State Secretary Karremans: “The most vulnerable children are not being helped well now. They are the victims of increasing pressure on youth care. One in seven children now uses youth assistance. We see that youth assistance is used more and more often in lighter problems, or situations that may be better in a different way of the system, the system of the children, of the children, of the children, of the children, of the children, of the children, of the children, of the children, of the children, of the children, of the children’s. to have”.
Additional agreements for a stronger and future -proof youth assistance
The government and the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) make extra agreements to improve youth assistance. By giving more attention to underlying problems in domains such as education, housing and livelihood, the demand for youth assistance is prevented as much as possible if youth assistance is nevertheless necessary and is first used for informal support and collective basic facilities in the child’s living environment, so that help remains as light and close as possible and heavier care is prevented. The youth care system is adjusted so that light help does not inadvertently lead to extra demand and waiting times for heavier care become shorter. Local teams play a crucial role in this. Finally, the focus is on improving the quality of youth assistance and better use of available data, so that children can be helped faster and more efficiently. By making youth care more sustainable, municipalities have more room left to make investments in important facilities such as swimming pools and libraries, or to maintain them.
Help that works and no longer than necessary
Children sometimes have been in a youth assistance process for an unnecessarily long time, while it is insufficiently clear whether the care really works. That is why there are agreements about the route time at the start of youth assistance. So that youth care professionals and families keep thinking about whether the care works optimally or whether a different solution is better. By helping young people more purposefully, care remains available for children in vulnerable situations that have been on a waiting list for too long. This will be worked out in the coming period with professionals, providers and municipalities.
Solid financial measures
Every young person who needs help must also be able to get it. At the same time, we want to ensure that youth care remains available for those who really need it. That is why the government is working on a plan to introduce a limited personal contribution for some forms of youth assistance from 2028. The goal is not to discourage necessary help, but to look more consciously at which help is appropriate and effective. The cabinet will work out this intention with the greatest possible care, with an eye for vulnerable families and children.
Legislation for stronger youth care
Professionals, municipalities and government are working hard on a better youth care system. The Availability Youth Care Act, recently adopted by the House of Representatives, improves access to specialist youth care for vulnerable children and parents. In addition, this summer, the bill will be scope in consultation, with the aim of clear agreements about the help falls under the Youth Act. With these laws and other measures from the youth reform agenda, children in vulnerable situations must be better helped.