Local youth policy

Local authorities have been given an important role in youth policy in the Netherlands. They are expected to develop preventive youth policy to increase the opportunities of young people and prevent them dropping out from society. At the request of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Netherlands Institute for Social Research/SCP is conducting a study of local youth policy. This report describes the first phase of this study. It is descriptive in nature and presents a picture of the extent of local authority services for young people, as well as the degree to which youth policy has been developed. It also looks at a number of substantive aspects of local youth policy and the degree to which local authorities involve young people in formulating policy. This report forms the basis for further research on local youth policy, in which the effects of this policy will be mapped out and which forms part of the SCP research programme Local social policy (Lokaal sociaal beleid).