Cost of youth protection and youth probation services

Managing deficits
We concluded that, in order to balance their budgets, 16 of the 18 youth care offices and national youth care institutions (BJZ/LWI) had not kept to their implementation agreements in 2010. According to the agreements, more personnel should have been used to implement youth protection and youth probation measures. The implementation agreements, moreover, were not always well known to the provinces and the BJZ/LWI.

All the BJZ/LWI together made a surplus of €2.1 million on their youth protection and youth probation services in 2009. Six of the 18 BJZ/LWI, however, incurred a deficit on these services. All the BJZ/LWI together incurred a deficit on youth protection and youth probation services of €2.5 million in 2010. Eleven of the 18 BJZ/LWI incurred a deficit on these services in 2010.

The financial results for 2009 and 2010 would have been worse if the implementation agreements had been kept. Youth Care Netherlands estimates the deficit for 2008 at €41.7 million. The BJZ/LWI put the deficit for 2009 at €20.8 million and that for 2010 at €28 million.

Other ways for the BJZ/LWI to balance their budgets and therefore avoid a deficit include:

• transfer of funding from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) from voluntary youth care services to the criminal justice tasks (compulsory youth care); this is permitted. In 2010 a sum of €3.1 million was involved.
• use of additional funding from the provinces. We were unable to establish the exact amount for 2010.

Some BJZ/LWI also indicated that they were eating into their capital and postponing investments. We were not able to confirm this in all cases.

Conditions to calculate cost
We conclude that the standard price set in the implementation agreements is the outcome of negotiation. It is not based on realistic cost calculations. The BJZ/LWI's accounts are not kept in such a way as to calculate the actual cost of each youth protection and youth probation measure.

We found that neither the Ministry of Security and Justice (or the Ministry of VWS) nor the provinces and large urban areas and the BJZ/LWI had sufficient information to calculate the cost of each criminal justice measure.

We recommend that the compliance of each youth care office and national youth care institution (BJZ/LWI) with the implementation agreements be determined. A condition for this is that all uncertainties regarding the implementation agreements are resolved as soon as possible. 

To establish a realistic standard price for the implementation agreement, investments will have to be made in the BJZ/LWI's accounting systems. The Court of Audit will provide a detailed calculation method that will provide the BJZ/LWI with an insight into the cost of their youth protection and youth probation services. It is thought that the information could be available by mid-2013.

Insight into the cost of each measure and compliance with the implementation agreements will enable the provinces and large urban areas to improve their management of the BJZ/LWI's finances and compliance with the implementation agreements.

The State Secretary for Security and Justice (V&J) will facilitate the assistance offered to the youth care offices and national youth care institutions (BJZ/LWI) to put their accounting systems in order and thus gain an insight into their costs. The Association of Provincial Authorities (IPO) and the BJZ/LWI can work out this instrument further in a new operational management manual for the BJZ/LWI. The improvement plans will also include a proposal to put the BJZ/LWI's accounts in order in accordance with our recommendations. 

The State Secretary for V&J said his plans would enable the BJZ/LWI and the provinces to produce adequate management information.

The IPO wrote that the negotiation of the prices had to be completed as quickly as possible and could not wait for the outcome of a cost calculation.

The provinces will remove the BJZ/LWI's uncertainties regarding the implementation agreements and make further agreements if necessary on the management information to be provided.

Youth Care Netherlands noted that agreements could be made on further administrative aspects of the implementation once the prices were in order.