Youth care critical of government-proposed reforms

Youth care Netherlands and trade union FNV Youth care are critical of the reforms that State Secretary Van Ooijen announced in a letter to the House of Representatives. Earlier today, the State Secretary concluded that market forces in youth care and the transfer to municipalities have not been good.

More money than ever is being spent on youth care, but that is not noticeable in the results, the government acknowledges.

Recently, there have been discussions between youth care organisations, municipalities, professionals, client organizations and the cabinet. But those five parties could not agree on measures to limit costs and improve care. One of the major pain points was the cutbacks of more than 500 million euros that municipalities had to implement.

Contribution

The government will now take on this cutback, but that does not take away the concerns of the sector. “The State Secretary does not clarify in his letter how the cabinet wants to realize the cutbacks in youth care. The introduction of a personal contribution is therefore still on the table,” Youth Care Netherlands writes in a response.

Any personal contribution for clients is not acceptable and, moreover, discriminatory, the organization says. “In this way, the bill will lie with the people who need this care and they will have to deal with an extra threshold.” FNV Youth Care is also strongly against it. On Tuesday, the organizations will submit a petition against their own contribution.

Organize nationally

As a result of the government’s intervention, care for children and young people with complex problems, such as anorexia or severe depression, will again be arranged nationally instead of per municipality. And youth protection measures, if it is up to Van Ooijen, will lie with regional security teams.

In his letter, the State Secretary points out that the increase in light care has been at the expense of complex care. FNV Youth Care wants to get rid of the image that this light care is often unnecessary. “That is an unfounded political frame. That has never been investigated,” says national FNV director Maaike van der Aar. “It is good that we are going to talk about what should and should not fall under youth care, but that does not mean that this type of lighter care is not necessary.”

Jeugdzorg Nederland hopes that specialist care for children will be intensified. Youth protection, which the State Secretary wants to coordinate at a regional level, can be better organized at a national level, according to Youth Care Netherlands.

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