Youth crime prevention program criticized as ineffective, “wasted money,” experts say
The Dutch government program meant to prevent young people from entering organized crime is failing to show results and has been criticized by experts as ineffective, according to an investigation by Zembla.
The Ministry of Justice and Security program Preventie met Gezag spends about 100 million euros annually across 47 municipalities dealing with youth crime. Despite that investment, experts say the initiative lacks evidence of success.
Zembla found that funding over the past year was distributed across nearly 250 different interventions, including school information sessions, games, sports activities, theater programs, youth work, and coaching. Of 42 municipalities that responded to the program's inquiries, all reported using a wide variety of approaches. But Emeritus professor of forensic psychiatry Jan Hendriks called the spending “wasted money,” adding: “For 95 percent of them, it is not known whether they can have any effect at all.”
Emeritus professor Geert Jan Stams, who previously advised the ministry, described the situation as uncontrolled expansion. “An enormous wild growth,” he said. “Honestly, it makes me depressed. Are you pumping air into a leaking bicycle tire? This simply cannot be done.” He also said earlier research had recommended limiting interventions: “Less is more. So we should only roll out about ten programs in the Netherlands.”
Other experts also raised concerns about the program’s effectiveness. Lecturer Jan Dirk de Jong said, “You have to spend that money carefully. This is really just a big ‘see-what-you-do show’?!”
Researchers from the Trimbos Institute warned that some interventions may be counterproductive, stating: “Such an intervention costs money that then does not go to effective interventions. It is therefore harmful to deploy such interventions.”
The criticism comes as youth crime in the Netherlands has declined over the past 20 years, but the severity of offenses has increased. The Public Prosecution Service reported that more teenagers were again suspected of serious crimes last year. The Strategic Knowledge Center for Subversive Crime also concluded this week that the government is not sufficiently addressing the vulnerability of young people to recruitment by criminal networks.
Experts are calling on Justice Minister David van Weel to intervene and overhaul the program.
Van Weel said he will review the Zembla findings, saying that he does not fully agree with the conclusions but is open to discussion with researchers. “This is very complex,” he said. "In these neighborhoods, it is already difficult to get a foothold and have a normal conversation. In large parts of it, here is an alternative society.”
He rejected limiting programs to a small number of approved interventions, saying: “I am really not going to say in advance that these five programs are allowed and the rest are not. We must seize everything that works, but we must carefully examine what actually works.”
