From January 2015, youth care in the Netherlands will become the responsibility of municipalities - including prevention of violence against children and care of children who have suffered from child abuse. Around 118,000 children fall victim to child abuse in the Netherlands every year, and the effectiveness of municipal policies and professional care have a huge impact on their lives and future.
Together with 20 experts from youth care, the police and municipalities, the Bernard van Leer Foundation has developed this publication to set out who does what from 2015, the three biggest changes for municipalities and bottlenecks around the prevention of child abuse. It explains why prevention of child abuse should not be seen as a linear process (from prevention to after care) but as a cycle (signal, discuss, research, decide and act).
