Senate Approves Law for Better Availability of Youth Care

The bill is an important part of the Youth Reform Agenda, for which the ministries of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) and Justice and Security (JenV) are jointly responsible. The law to improve the availability of youth care will come into effect on January 1, 2026.

Secretary of State Judith Tielen (Youth, Prevention, and Sports): “This bill is a crucial step in improving the availability of specialized youth care. This is necessary because currently, children and parents who need (highly) specialized youth assistance often have to wait too long. Think of help with complex addiction problems or in a crisis situation. These children and parents must be able to rely on the government.”

The new law requires municipalities to work regionally when purchasing (highly) specialized youth care. It also stipulates which forms of care must be jointly purchased at a minimum. This ensures better distribution and availability of this specialized help throughout the Netherlands.

The law also lays the foundation for more uniformity, for example, in data registration. As a result, information such as waiting times becomes better comparable between regions. This helps to timely signal where bottlenecks arise.

By collaborating regionally, municipalities and care providers can work more efficiently and save on administration. This leaves more time for the actual care of children and families.

The law sets requirements for the financial operations of youth care providers. This aims to prevent financial problems of providers from leading to care shortages. Additionally, the tasks of the current Youth Authority will be legally established. This will become part of the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa), which will also receive a new task: to signal risks in the availability of specialized youth care at an early stage, based on better comparable data. This way, municipalities and providers can take action earlier if necessary.