St. Martin News Network

Philipsburg;--- An effective and coordinated approach by social workers is necessary for all delinquents in Dutch society. That is why social workers will be stimulated to mention the origin of young people in their own files, if it is relevant to the assistance.
For this reason, there will be no separate reference index for Netherlands Antilles high-risk youth.

This is what Minister Ella Vogelaar of Housing, Districts and Integration announced this morning in the Netherlands Antilles after her conversation with Prime Minister
De Jongh-Elhage. With this, the Netherlands is demonstrating that it has eyes for
The objections that have been repeatedly expressed by the Netherlands Antilles
and the Antillean community in the Netherlands.

In order to improve the coordination of the assistance to high-risk youngsters, Minister Rouvoet of Youth and Family is working on an amendment to the Youth Care Act. In it, the Reference Index for High-Risk Youth (RIHY) is introduced, a spotting system for social workers. Minister Vogelaar and Minister Rouvoet hold the view that, in order to be able to offer effective assistance, it is important for social workers to also be acquainted with the origin of the youngsters involved.

That is why social workers will be stimulated to record the origin of youngsters in
their own files. "That goes for all youngsters of Antillean-Dutch, but also of Moroccan-Dutch origin", according to Minister Vogelaar. Registration of ethnicity in the Reference Index for High-Risk Youth is therefore not necessary. If social workers contact each other with the help of the RIHY, because they are giving assistance to the same young person, one social worker can inform the other regarding the origin of the young person involved.

The 21 so-called Antillean Municipalities, which are the most involved in dealing
with the Antillean-Dutch high-risk youth, will dovetail with the experimental garden with the High-Risk Youth Reference Index. At present, 41 municipalities are participating in it, six of which are the so-called Antillean municipalities. So, fifteen more will be added. Dovetailing with the experiment offers the possibility to verify in practice whether the Reference Index for High-Risk Youth is effective. The RIHY is intended to make the assistance more effective and to offer the youngsters in question an opportunity to develop their talents.

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