So I helped to organize an introductory dinner for the directors of Frisian highly specialized youth care providers and the aldermen who are newly active in the youth portfolio. Indeed, in Friesland, these care providers are committed to improving the highly specialized youth care landscape. There are great innovative plans and agreements, which can only come to structural implementation in cooperation with the municipalities. The purpose of the dinner was therefore to get to know each other and to allow the aldermen to learn about the current youth care landscape.

What made this evening extra special was the presence of two experts by experience with an impressive story about their lives and their own experiences with youth aid. We hung on their every word. Their story, about which care helped and which didn’t, connected perfectly with what the directors would like to improve in care. Among other things, it is necessary that there is help not only for the young person, but also for the parents (often there are problems with the parents that affect the child), that the young person is better involved in the care process (ask the question: what do you need) and that complex problems within the family are identified earlier. For both youths the core of their problems remained unseen for too long and therefore got worse.

The contrast of this meeting could not be greater than that of daily meetings: online, in too short an hour, based on documents and papers skimmed through fleetingly. An open and relaxed conversation ensued. People began to speak from themselves, from their own perspective as parents and not just professionally. It was so good that time was taken to reflect closely on what we do this work for. Namely, to make a difference. For the vulnerable people in society who are not being helped properly, while there is so much knowledge, expertise and motivation in our country to keep these people well on their feet in today’s society. These two young people, that is what we are doing it for. The fact that they say: these are good things you are doing, keep going. Then we can’t stop, can we?

I didn’t expect this evening to yield anything like this. It was so inspiring, and it gives me hope that things are really going to change in youth aid. And it makes me happy to contribute to that from EHdK.