Tranzo Pearl | Network analysis youth domain

In the youth domain, municipalities and organizations work together to provide the best possible care for youth. With an increasingly complex society, this is not always easy because the networks are also becoming more complex. They are large in size and diverse in composition. Very little research has been done in the field of youth care networks. The network analysis of the youth domain, from the Academic Collaborative Center Youth, provides more insight into the stability and dynamics of the youth aid network.

The research by Mariëlle Blanken, among others, on local youth aid networks identifies how organizations work together. These organizations operate within the broad range from prevention to highly specialized care. In addition, the way in which the municipality manages this will be examined. Since this is the first time the entire network has been looked at in this way, it has yielded valuable information, both for the participating municipalities and for other municipalities. But it has also helped the organizations that have to provide help to the client. Among other things, it has become clear that organizations, which should play a central role within youth aid, do not always do so. In addition, it appears that, in a large number of cases, the participating organizations are unclear as to how the municipality controls them. Clear demarcation of the network and what belongs to it and who is responsible for what is essential for all parties.

Ultimately, these insights can be further disseminated to municipalities and organizations, giving them tools to further optimize the networks and especially their operation. Because there is still little research in this area, these studies form a scientific basis with which this way of looking at networks (steering) can also be used in other studies. But the most important thing, of course, is that the networks cooperate in such a way that the children who enter the care process within the youth domain receive the care they need.