Youth care

Youth care
On 11 July 2008 Mr André Rouvoet, minister for Youth and Families and Ms Ella Vogelaar, former minister of Housing, Communities and Integration sent a document to the House of Representatives titled "Diversity in Youth Policy". This document, drafted by Dr Steven van Eijck, former Commissioner on youth policy, contains recommendations to enhance the position of young people from migrant groups in the Dutch youth policy. The Cabinet has decided to adopt the recommendations. The aim is to implement a youth policy enabling all children and young people, regardless of their cultural backgrounds, to grow up in good health and a safe environment.

Minority ethnic young people
Many young people from migrant groups are doing well in the Netherlands. Nevertheless there are others who are doing less well. Problems such as language deficiency or psychological problems are often identified too late. Generally, youth workers will not see these young people until after they have run into difficulties or have caused trouble themselves. Research carried out by the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (CPB) shows that youth care workers have more difficulty identifying problems in children from a non-Western background, due to communication problems between youth care workers, parents and their children.

Action items
The "Diversity in Youth Policy" programme 2008-2011 contains the Cabinet's action items to reach parents from migrant groups and their children at an earlier stage. For instance, the Cabinet aims at increasing its know-how on support to migrant groups. The Cabinet would also like to achieve a greater diversity in the cultural backgrounds of youth care workers. Moreover, a Further training programme for youth care workers will be set up, providing them with increased understanding of ethnic and cultural relations.

Ten million euros for immigrant youth policy - news item Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment