Transforming Dutch youth care. Learning from Utrecht

Since 2015, Dutch municipalities are responsible for all youth care. Most Dutch municipalities have made limited progress in achieving the main goals of the reform while also struggling with endemic budget deficits. The city of Utrecht has managed a relatively successful transformation. What can we learn from this success? Jonathan Zeitlin (University of Amsterdam), Jan-Kees Helderman (Radboud University Nijmegen) and Charles Sabel (Columbia Law School, Columbia University) analysed the institutional innovations and development opportunities in the Utrecht youth care system as a case from which other municipalities can benefit. The Dutch Youth Act. In 2015 the Dutch Youth Act was introduced, shifting the responsibility for youth care from the national to the municipal level. The guiding principles of the youth care transformation are: one family, one plan and one coordinator through an integrated, multidisciplinary and coordinated approach; customization, and treating every child and their family as unique needing a unique constellation of help or support; the pursuit of normalization and de-medicalization, by focusing on prevention and early detection.