AOJ Monitor supports the connection between education and youth services

The AOJ Monitor website shows data on student numbers, the various forms of youth care use and youth care use by type of education. The figures help municipalities and Appropriate Education partnerships develop preventive youth policy and put the connection between education and youth support into practice.

Lieke Salomé, project leader of the AOJ Monitor: “To gain a good understanding of how things are going in a region, it is not so much the exact number of young people using youth care that matters, but much more the trend you see. A region should always ask itself the following questions: do we recognise the figures, what do we think of them, can we explain them and what can we improve?”

Education and care history

A new report in the monitor shows the education and care history of young people in a region and its influence on whether they have a job and pursue education. Regions use this report to discuss how they can increase young people’s opportunities.
Salomé: “Developing and implementing policy is a human endeavour. Gaining clarity about how this process unfolds helps improve cooperation and monitor the effects of interventions. The AOJ Monitor provides questionnaires for analysing data. The Netherlands Youth Institute supports this approach.”

Foundation for policy

The Appropriate Education partnership in Almere is one of the users of the AOJ Monitor’s instruments. The partnership measures its successes and adjusts the objectives and activities in its support plan based on the results of the AOJ Monitor. Policy officer and former project leader of Appropriate Education Almere, Peter de Vries: “It leads to genuine cooperation and improvement of our approach. For example, various working methods have been adapted, and concrete consideration has been given to different consultation times for youth doctors. The AOJ Monitor provides us with a reference point, an evaluation. It gives us insight into where we need to place emphasis. It is a foundation for policy and its coordination.”

The AOJ Monitor was developed by the Netherlands Youth Institute at the request of the regions, with funding from the Ministries of Health, Welfare and Sport and Education, Culture and Science. The monitor was renewed in 2019 in consultation with the PO-Raad, VO-raad and the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG), which, together with the NJi, intend to maintain the instrument.