The initiative

As mentioned before, the incredibly high waiting times in the modern

GGZ-situation are not only difficult to find solutions for, but are also ever
increasingly dangerous for youth of need of help.

It is evident that a solution must be found. A solution that tackles as

many of the issues as possible. Because of such, we propose two
different manifestations.

The first being an issue to tackle the anxiety and depression-inducing

decisions decided upon the youth by caretakers. The problem that the
youth have no say whatsoever on where they are decided on going is
beyond lunatic. Comparable to the trafficking of humans, we would
heavily advise on changing the law to a more lenient approach to the
choices made regarding a minor. A law must be passed which gives any
child over the age of 15 near complete control of their destination.
Whether it being the new GGZ-institution they are transferred to or the
new therapist they end up seeing, the person in question should have a
solid grasp of their future.

Alongside that, there is the problem of the youth not being able to stand
up for themselves, consequential of a lack of knowledge. Minors or not,
people have the right to a fair trial which can only be succeeded if the
people in question know their rights, which the youth are rusty to say the
least on. Therefore, we would like to push a forced subject in school. A
subject of law, explaining the rights pupils have to an honest trial and
how to initiate such. As there are many subjects already, this would be
an additional subject you could choose in lieu of CKV. We chose CKV as
CKV shows little to no preparation on the future of its pupils and deemed
a ‘useless’ subject by many.

The short term and long term effects of this solution are roughly the
same; giving the youth not only more freedom, but knowledge about
their current situation. This will inevitably lead to less confusion, less
depression and thus less need for the youth to go to such GGZ-
institutions. By breaking this cycle, the long waiting lines will
consequently fall and the problem will be tackled. This change will target
the youth who are inexperienced in law and are suffering from the
confusion the current situation has bestowed upon them.

The approach: Manifestation 1 - The New Law

A simple email to the government will not suffice. The government has
been oblivious to the problem for decades on end now, so new efforts
must be made. Especially in this corona crisis period, the government is
very vocal about their decisions. Advantage of that can be taken, we
simply need to get the message across to the government to initiate the
process. This will be done as quickly as possible by recruition. According
to Zorg Prisma Publiek there were 208.000 children under the age of 18
who were helped by the GGZ, who suffered from these problems. 1
208 thousand is roughly 1.2% of the entire Dutch population or in
relative terms, comparable to nearly two times the population of the city
of Leiden. 208 thousand children who not only are keen on helping
towards this cause but have suffered through this exact motion before.
This absolute massive amount of young recruiters will get the message
across to the Dutch government.
Time wise, this must be done as quickly as possible. The lines of the
GGZ are ever increasing and with the current coronavirus situation the
depression amongst youth is exponentially increasing. Matters must be
taken into our own hands and quickly. The entire process of the change
will take a couple months, with leeway of the changing of law. We aim
for this law to be finished and ready by the end of 2021.

As far as networks go, the 208 thousand people are a massive boost.
Besides that, the GGZ will support this case as it will uninvertably help
them. This change in law will not affect anyone negatively, as it is a
nasty cut in the Dutch system that is finally getting the bandage it
desperately needs.

According to Trouw, the cost of a new law is unknown. 2 What however

can be seen is that it will not be easy. However with it affecting more

1 https://www.zorgprismapubliek.nl/producten/patientgroepen/zorg-voor-kinderen/row-3/hoeveel-
kinderen-ontvangen-zorg-vanuit-de-ggz/
2 https://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nieuwe-wet-maken-kijk-eerst-naar-de-kosten~b1b872d1/?
referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
than 1.2% of the entire population, we can conclude that once the
problem is brought to the government, they will make it a priority.

The approach: Manifestation 2 - The New Subject

Education has been a main priority of the Dutch government for the past
dozens of years. We have scored high as a country with sublime
education, which we show off with pride. However, problems are still
present. One of the major problems is law is close to never discussed in
both social studies as school itself. Law is the very thing that holds
civilization as we know from complete anarchic failure, so it should
deserve its own subject. People deserve the right to stand up for
themselves no matter the age. This can be best done by adding a
separate subject in school regarding the rights of the pupils. This will be
done by using both the 208 thousand affected, as teachers across the
nation who will fully support the decision of a new subject as important
as this being made.

Besides that, the argument can be made that the top tier jobs for the
future successor all have a designated subject. A medical doctor started
out as a biology student. Astronauts and professional mathematicians
have excelled at physics and calculus in high school, respectively.
However, lawyers have often argued that there is no such subject to
prepare them for studying law in university. Not only will adding the new
subject of law benefit the pupils, but it will have an added value, it will
help those who wish to become lawyers which inadvertently creates a
more successful population for the country. As such, a short term goal
would be to give the youth more say, whilst the long term is to create a
more successful environment in school.

Posters, flyers and educationally made documentaries surrounding

schools will be the way to advertise this idea. As schools are part of our
network, they will be fully supportive in this case. The cost of
implementing a new subject is not low. When NLT was added to school
as a subject a couple years back, it took lots of effort and money.
However, compared to the 6.7 billion euros the Netherlands is losing to
the GGZ annually, it is nothing more than an investment of pennies for
the Netherlands.
Reflection
1. The youth is the future of the Netherlands. As such, the
government not only has a civil duty but an economic one to keep
the youth protected and as healthy as possible. This can be seen
in the immense amount of money the Dutch government invests in
education to make sure it is free and open to all youth to go to. 3 If
there are immense problems with the youth, the government will
have no hesitation to fix it.
2. Back in 2019, Greta Thunberg made her voice heard by protesting
against emissions by not going to school. Dozens of countries
followed, with millions of people ending up protesting, including the
Netherlands in September of 2019. Not only was this allowed by
the government, but it was encouraged. Children from all over the
country were allowed to skip school in order to protest.4 The Dutch
government listens to the youth and truly cares about what they
have to say.
3. According to De Staat van Volksgezondheid en Zorg, the
government paid the GGZ 6770 million (!) in 2019. 5 Not only is the
GGZ a massive failure of a corporation under the current laws, it is
a major investment that keeps dropping, fueled by the taxpayer’s
money. The Netherlands is prominently a very economic-driven
country. A massive gap like this where money is thrown and lost
will get patched up by the government almost instantly. With nearly
6.8 billion euros annually going to the GGZ, this problem is more
than just a massive gap. Rather, a black hole the government is
unaware of.

3 https://www.iamexpat.nl/education/primary-secondary-education/tuition-fees-
netherlands#:~:text=The%20Dutch%20government%20funds%20primary,set%20their%20own
%20tuition%20fees.
4 https://www.iamexpat.nl/lifestyle/expat-events-festivals/climate-strike-hague
5 https://www.staatvenz.nl/kerncijfers/uitgaven-aan-aanbieders-van-ggz