Sustainability Study Wmo 2015: Choices Needed for Availability and Accessibility of Social Support

State Secretary Pouw-Verweij: “Everyone deserves to participate in our society. When you need help with that, for example due to illness, disability, or old age, appropriate support must be available. This study clearly maps out the choices we face, as the national government and municipalities, to keep this available and accessible now and in the future. These are also major system choices. Therefore, it is up to the next cabinet to provide direction together with municipalities.”

Alderman Kramers (municipality of Leeuwarden, VNG board member): “The report comes at the right time. As municipalities, we are genuinely concerned whether residents – if we do nothing – will still be able to rely on good support from the Wmo in the future. Aging and pressure in other systems (e.g., mental health care, long-term care) mean that significantly more people rely on the Wmo. At the same time, the number of available informal caregivers and professionals is decreasing. To address this, we assume that the national government and municipalities must invest together in caring communities and collective support. That we, as one government, safeguard the coherence in services to residents. And that the conditions for municipalities to properly implement the law (financially and in terms of powers) are in order. Additionally, we expect the concept of ‘health in all policies’ to be reflected throughout the coalition agreement and municipal agreements. We look forward to discussing this with the new cabinet.”

One recommendation is to organize more cohesion between the social and healthcare domains, so that it is clear to people where and how they can receive which support. Consideration must also be given to people with lifelong and broad disabilities who require long-term support.

Furthermore, the scarce personnel must be better distributed among the growing group of people who need support. This can be done by giving professionals, providers, and municipalities frameworks within which they can determine which groups need social support the most and by supporting the use of informal care. The conclusions also recommend offering support collectively where possible instead of individually.

This means ensuring a clear policy agenda and sufficient resources for a strong social foundation. Personal contributions in social support can be made dependent on income and assets.

It is important to improve several conditions so that the Wmo 2015 can function better and to strengthen the administrative relationships between the national government and municipalities. The report states that it is necessary to further develop several national frameworks, support lines, and standards to enhance the quality of implementation in all municipalities. The national government and the VNG will jointly work to follow up on the conclusions of the study.