News item | 27-10-2022 | 08:49
Municipalities often do not know how many young people are in debt. Minister Schouten (Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions) makes it possible for the municipality of Amsterdam and DUO to start a pilot to gain better insight into this and to offer young people help more quickly. People can contribute ideas about the plans via an internet consultation.
Young people are underrepresented in debt counseling. This seems like good news, but it often stems from not having this target group properly on the radar. To investigate how this can be improved, the municipality of Amsterdam and DUO are starting a trial in which they exchange contact details and information about payment arrears. This concerns arrears of at least 270 euros. If DUO itself does not contact a young person in response to a payment reminder or an offer of a payment arrangement, it will pass on a signal to the municipality. The municipality then contacts the young person to make an offer for debt counseling. The Dutch Data Protection Authority has been asked for advice in connection with the data exchange.
Minister Schouten: “Tackling debts requires cooperation. This already happens frequently, but by sharing signals in a responsible manner between, in this case, DUO and the municipality, help can be provided in a more targeted and faster manner. Young people are approached actively and personally, which is expected to lower the threshold for accepting help. And the sooner we provide help, the smaller the chance that debt will continue to build up. The latter is of great importance for all involved.”
Broad approach to early detection
The trial in Amsterdam will last for a year, after which it will be evaluated and, depending on the results, followed up. Municipalities are also looking more broadly at getting a picture of debts earlier. On Budget Day, the government announced that it will receive an additional 35 million euros for this year for targeted aid through, among other things, early identification of debts. The government will also make an additional budget available for municipal debt counseling for 2023 and 2024.
The internet consultation on this pilot will run from October 27 to November 23. Through internetconsultatie.nl can you share your input