Reorganization could cause 1,000 children in Amsterdam to lose youth care next year

Due to a municipal reform of Amsterdam’s youth system, 1000 children and teenagers in Amsterdam will not be able to access the youth care assistance they currently receive next year. Instead, they end up behind an already long waiting list. Parole report.

According to the newspaper, Amsterdam will have to cut from last year’s 340 million euros to about 294 million euros in 2026. Alderman Marjolein Moorman (Youth Care) is considering reforming “short-term care.” For example, a psychologist who helps children who fear failure. The city currently has about 200 short-term care providers whose contracts expire at the end of this year. For the new tender, the city is looking for about 40 providers.

According to Moorman, cuts save money and give young people more control over their care. Part of the problem is that current providers focus primarily on children with well-educated, high-income parents. There are many and I get lost. And that skewed distribution doesn’t fit the city’s goal of investing equally.

But Moorman’s research also showed that these reforms could have serious consequences for at least 1,000 children. They need highly specialized help, such as psychiatric treatment, but are unable to get it due to long waiting lists and are instead getting short-term help. These children will no longer receive this personal care in 2024. And since they’re not currently on a waiting list for highly specialized help, they’ll have to start at the back, according to the newspaper.

GroenLinks city councilor Kris van der Veen said it was unthinkable. “It is very difficult for children to realize that something is going wrong and to ask for help. Parents and educators are at a loss.As a result, children and their parents and educators have lost confidence and we are crossing the line.”

He said he would come up with a proposal for a solution to present later this week. I hope to be guided. “Amsterdam has always made up for the shortage from The Hague, so even now it has to take care of 1,000 children who, thanks to government policy, are forced to end up on the waiting list,” he said. told the newspaper.