Legal/policy framework for the functioning and development of youth organisations

Youth organisations play an important role in the implementation of Flanders’ youth policy. There are several accredited youth organisations active at the Flemish level oriented towards youth work and young people in leisure time settings. The Flemish government distinguishes the following type of associations : (more information in Dutch can be found here):

• Nationally organised youth associations (Associations of youth work with participants from at least four provinces of the Dutch-speaking region or three provinces of the Dutch-speaking region and the bilingual Brussels-Capital). 
• Cultural-educational associations. 
• Associations for information and participation. These associations perform one or more of the following objectives: 1) create or convey information for or about youth or child rights; 2) guidance of youth in their participatory processes in the policies of governments or institutions with the aim to involve the youth in the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the policies of governments or institutions, 3) guiding media production by and about young people. 
• Political youth movements
• Youth houses: In almost every Flemish municipality, there is a youth house. A youth house are places where diversity, youth culture, attention for vulnerable groups, a sense of creativity and entrepreneurship are strongly encouraged. Youth houses are meeting places where activities take place for and by young people between 14 and 30 years old. They are run by young people themselves, who keep the youth house open and organize activities.

Except for the political youth movements, all accredited organisations receive grants. Besides, there are also different types of grants for specific projects or types of youth work:

• Experimental projects or associations setting up an experimental project in one of the following areas:
  1. youth work,
  2. information to or about youth on youth policy participation, 
  3. cultural education for young people. 
• Innovative projects: The Flemish Government can launch one or more calls each year for the subsidization of innovative projects for the implementation of the Flemish youth and children's rights policy plan, the youth policy plan and the youth policy letters. In 2018, the Flemish Government launched a call for projects on social integration. This call for projects was part of the Master Plan for Diversity in / and Youth Work (Masterplan diversiteit in/en het jeugdwerk)
• Youth work with socially vulnerable youth: Once every six years, the Flemish Government can grant operating subsidies to professionalized youth work with socially vulnerable children and young people in order to create or stimulate the participation of these children and young people. This allows the children and young people involved to connect with institutions or organizations that can help them to integrate into society in order to eliminate their disadvantage or exclusion.
• Youth work with youth with disabilities: Every four years, the Flemish Government awards operating subsidies to professionalized youth work organizations to organize supra-local youth work activities towards children and young people with a disability. This grant falls under the decree on supra-local youth work, youth centers and youth work for special target groups (Decreet bovenlokaal jeugdwerk, jeugdhuizen en jeugdwerk voor bijzondere doelgroepen).
• Volunteer organizations with youth with disabilities: The Flemish Government can annually award project subsidies to a voluntary organization to organize supra-local youth work activities towards children and young people with a disability. This subsidy line falls under the decree on supra-local youth work, youth centers and youth work for special target groups (Decreet bovenlokaal jeugdwerk, jeugdhuizen en jeugdwerk voor bijzondere doelgroepen). 
• Professionalized youth centers (jeugdhuizen): Once every four years, the Flemish Government approves operating subsidies for professionalized youth centers if they respond to the priorities of the Flemish youth and children's rights policy. They must stimulate artistic expression, entrepreneurship and social cohesion with the environment.

Inter-municipal partnerships: The Flemish Government can award an operating subsidy every six years to inter-municipal project associations that stimulate cooperation and networking between local authorities and youth work within their operating area. The first six-year period runs from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2026. 

Legal framework for the funding of youth organisations:

• The Flemish Parliament Act of 25 November 2023 regulates the instruments for implementing a Flemish youth and children's rights policy and for supporting Flemish and supra-local youth work, see section 1.2 for more information)
• The decree on the subsidization of supra-local youth work , youth homes and youth work for special target groups (decreet houdende de subsidiëring van bovenlokaal jeugdwerk, jeugdhuizen en jeugdwerk voor bijzondere doelgroepen) was repealed by the Act of 25 November 2023. Youth houses, youth work with socially vulnerable children and young people, supra-local youth work with children and young people with disabilities and intermunicipal project associations could make use of the subsidy lines described in this decree. Associations that receive a subsidy based on the repealed decree, as it was in force on 31 December 2023, retain the subsidy for the period for which it was granted, provided they continue to meet the conditions. 
• The Flemish Parliament Act of 6 July 2012 on supporting and promoting local youth policy (Decreet houdende de ondersteuning en stimulering van het lokaal jeugdbeleid): There are no more resources related to this Parliament Act, but it still obliges every municipality to set up a local youth council or to recognize an existing youth council.
• The decree of 6 July 2012 (renewed in 2018) on subsidies for hostels, youth accommodation centers, support structures and the non-profit organization General Service for Youth Tourism  (decreet van 6 juli 2012 houdende subsidiëring van hostels, jeugdverblijfcentra, ondersteuningsstructuren en de vzw Algemene Dienst voor Jeugdtoerisme) has the general objective of promoting an adapted and varied accommodation capacity for multi-day stays for youth in general and youth work in particular. Associations or persons who make efforts to achieve this objective can be subsidized by the Flemish government.

Public financial support

In the Flemish Youth Decree several types of subsidies are included to support youth work and youth policy. They can be grouped into a few main categories:

1. Structural (working) subsidies. These are long-term, recurring subsidies for recognized organizations:

• Working subsidies for nationally organized youth associations 
• Working subsidies for: 
  • youth information and participation organizations 
  • cultural education organizations 
• Working subsidies for youth organizations targeting specific groups: 
  • young people with disabilities 
  • socially vulnerable youth 
• Working subsidies for intermunicipal partnerships (supporting cooperation between local authorities and youth work) 

2. Project subsidies. These are temporary subsidies for specific initiatives or innovations:

• Experimental youth work projects 
• Projects implementing the Flemish Youth and Children’s Rights Policy Plan 
• Projects for above-local (bovenlokaal) youth work 
• Projects for volunteer-based youth work with young people with disabilities 

3. Targeted subsidies for specific sectors or functions. The decree also includes subsidies linked to particular roles or structures:

• Subsidies for intermediaire organisaties (umbrella/support organizations) 
• Subsidies within local youth policy (e.g. support for local youth councils or Brussels institutions) 

4. Recognition-linked funding. Some subsidies require official recognition first:

• Recognized youth organizations (e.g. national youth associations) receive: 
  • Basic fixed subsidies 
  • Additional (variable) subsidies based on policy plans 

To sum up, the system combines stable, ongoing funding with flexible, project-based support.The decree includes two main funding logics, namely structural funding (werkingssubsidies) for long-term support for organizations and project funding (projectsubsidies) that concerns temporary, innovation-driven support. 

Initiatives to increase the diversity of participants

In 2016, the working group ‘Diversity Policy’ within the Youth Work Commission worked on a vision note on diversity in youth work (visienota Diversiteit in het Jeugdwerk). Partly based on this vision, a roundtable discussion with the youth work sector was organized. Based on the vision statement, the Minister of Youth went in discussion with experts from different policy areas and about a hundred youth workers related to a wide range of youth (work) initiatives, focusing on two goals of the vision statement: ‘More equal opportunities’ and  ‘social inclusion’. The entire process resulted in a set of policy recommendations and commitments in the sector. Based on the recommendations of the Citizen’s Cabinet on Youth and those of the working group on diversity policy, the Minister of Youth launched a project call in December 2016, called ‘Bridge-builders within and to youth work’. The Flemish government invested 750,000 euros into projects that ‘build bridges’ within and towards youth work. In 2019 the Ambrassade developed a Toolbox for Diversity. This toolbox is aimed for diversity officers and (supra-local) youth workers, other employees of organisations that are recognized and/or subsidized within the Flemish youth and children’s rights policy decree, and interested who work on diversity. The toolbox offers organisations all kinds of tools, methodologies and working methods tailored to diversity employees. 

These initiatives lead also to the Masterplan diversity in / and youth work  (Masterplan diversiteit in/en het jeugdwerk) in 2018. The Master Plan must set things in motion, and this in a sustainable way. Therefore it transcends the previous legislature and contains a long list of ambitious actions on diversity, both towards children and young people and more specifically in youth work itself.  The actions from the various target group-oriented policy plans are also included. Although the master plan is a joint commitment of the youth sector and the Flemish government, local authorities and any other actors from civil society, other sectors or other policy levels are also invited to commit and formulate actions. The Master Plan is updated annually on the occasion of Diversity Day. Actions in the Master Plan can be linked to four pillars: 

1. Achieving a broader youth work offering and ensuring more equal opportunities for all children and young people 

2. Achieving more social integration

3. Detecting research needs, collecting and disclosing existing figures, weighing on the research agenda regarding diversity and monitoring.

4. Cross-sectoral and international networking and collaboration

More information, including an evaluation of this plan, can also be found on the website of Komaf. 

Finally also the funding of supra-local youth work organizations for children and young people with disabilities, the voluntary initiatives geared towards children and young people with disabilities, the youth work organizations that work with socially vulnerable youth and the projects funded based on the calls 'Connecting vulnerable children and young people with the neighborhood and society’ and ‘Connection ambassadors for youth work' (see above) have the goal to increase the diversity of participants.