National strategy(ies)

Youth and Children’s Rights Policy Plan 

A main priority in the horizontal Youth and Children’s Rights Policy Plan of 2020-2024 (JKP) was ‘Well-being and positive identity development’ (see 7.1.3 – National Youth Strategy). This topic continues to be a priority in the new Youth and Children’s Rights Policy Plan of 2025-2029. This priority remains relevant because children and young people too often walk around alone with their concerns and problems. Many children and young people lack a point of contact or confidant in their immediate environment to whom they can turn with their worries, doubts, stress and existential questions. There is still too much taboo around mental health problems. There is a need for an integrated approach between assistance on the one hand and the direct network (parents, youth work, employer, school, etc.) of children and young people on the other.

Several actions were taken in order to strengthen the wellbeing and the positive identity development of children and young people. These actions are focused around the following goals:

• The Flemish Government pursues a targeted integrity policy in which an integrated approach to violence is actively pursued, based on the story and the demand of the child and young person.
• The Flemish Government stimulates initiatives both at collective and individual level that lead to encounters, a strengthening of resilience and recognition of the resilience of every child and young person. 

The Flemish Government is obliged to monitor the JKP and report on its implementation. This is done with an interim report and a final report. The interim report contains a progress report on the implementation of the JKP. It also indicates how areas of concern and new challenges will be addressed during further implementation. The final report is drawn up in the last year of implementation of the JKP and contains an evaluation of its implementation. The interim and final report of JKP 2020-2024 are available online. 

Preventive Health Policy

The Department of Care is responsible for the Preventive Health Policy (preventief gezondsheidsbeleid). Since 1998, the Flemish Government developed Flemish Health Objectives (Vlaamse gezondheidsdoelstellingen) to set priorities in the Preventive Health Policy (see 7.4 – Encouraging healthy lifestyles and healthy nutrition for young people). Mental health promotion was included as a health theme in its own right in the Flemish health objective ‘The Flemish people live healthier in 2025’ from 2022. The policy theme had previously been part of the health objective on suicide prevention and the Flemish Action Plan on suicide prevention. 

Flemish Action Plan on suicide prevention

Flanders is among the European member states struggling with high suicide rates: the Flemish suicide rate is 1.5 times higher than the average within the European Union. In Flanders, there are several initiatives to prevent suicide and to support people who are struggling and those around them (Department of Care). There is currently a third Flemish Action Plan to prevent Suicide (2022-2030) (Vlaams Actieplan Suïcidepreventie 2022-2030). The Action Plan gives an overview of which policy initiatives will continue to exist and which new initiatives are proposed. Some of these initiatives include children and young people. 

Young people are explicitly included within strategy 3 “suicide prevention in vulnerable groups” in the Flemish Suicide Prevention Action Plan III. In this strategy, the action plan focuses on target groups that have a known increased risk of suicide. The focus is on target group-oriented early detection of suicidality and implementation of existing methodologies and tools, applied to the needs of the respective target groups, including young people.

• Serious game Silver: a science-based mobile serious game for youth between the ages of 12 and 16. Within the game, it focuses on strengthening essential skills related to mental health.
• NokNok.be – an online platform where young people aged 12 to 16 can work independently on their mental wellbeing.
• Warm cities and municipalities (Warme steden en gemeenten) – a network of cities and municipalities that clusters all organisations working with children and young people and their mental health. 
• Several actors in youth care worked on informative sheets to make suicide more discussable in youth care. These info sheets help youth workers get started when they encounter the topic of suicide in the youth work organisation. The sheets are being further implemented. The need to expand these materials wider than suicide prevention is being considered.
• Guidelines and accompanying e-learning for health care providers for detecting, discussing and addressing suicidal thoughts in children and adolescents.

The Flemish Government and the Department of Care are responsible for the implementation, coordination and monitoring of the action plan. A previous version of the plan has been evaluated (Evaluation report of the 2nd Flemish Action Plan).

The partners, organisations and individual care providers which are recognised and/or subsidised by the Flemish Government for tasks of the Preventive Health Policy and Integrated Youth Care, are accountable and monitored. They must submit an annual progress report to the Flemish Government. The Flemish Governments defines detailed rules.

Flemish Parliament Integrated Youth Care Act

Integrated Youth Care is a cross-sectoral policy programme of the Flemish government. It aims to establish a coordinated approach to help troubled young people and their relatives. The clients face multi-problem situations (e.g. bad family situation, skipping school, mental issues, etc.) that require a multi-faceted care strategy. The institutional makeup of the care (health, welfare, education) landscape in Flanders, however, is relatively fragmented and characterised by strong (sub-) sectors.

On 1 March, 2014 the Integrated Youth Care Act came into force. This act entails a far-reaching cooperation between all anchor sectors involved in youth. The main objective is that every young person with a problem finds as quickly as possible the appropriate help. This renewed act puts the young person central. The inherent strength of children and young people and their immediate surroundings are considered the main source of assistance. The act anchors this principle and translates it into practical assistance to all amenities (see also 7.6 - Mechanisms of early detection and signposting of young people facing health risks). 

Action Plan Mental wellbeing (worries for tomorrow)

With the Worries for Tomorrow action plan, the Flemish Government wanted to deal with the psychosocial consequences of the corona crisis. The objective was to maximize protection of the population's (mental) health, strengthen resilience and address mental health or social problems arising from this crisis quickly and vigorously.

One of the focus groups of the action plan were children, young people and their family. An informative website was made were you can find information on all the available services for this focus group. 

In 2020 the Flemish Government allocated 24 585 k for the action plan (Flemish Government).

Child and Family (Kind en Gezin) focuses on supporting the mental health of both child and parent(s) in supporting development, parenthood and upbringing. The development of the young child, the relational experiences with parent(s) and others responsible for upbringing, the well-being of the parent(s) and the embeddedness of the family in a socially supportive network are inextricably linked.

Psychological care provision in primary care

In view of the need for more capacity and more specific expertise in mental health care within low-threshold and accessible basic facilities for (future) parents, children and young people, the Flemish and federal governments are joining forces. The aim is to facilitate future cooperation in the field with regard to the OverKop networks, the Houses of the Child partnerships and the Mental Health Networks in accordance with the common vision of the Flemish and federal governments.

Improving the mental health of young people

Expedition Happiness 

Expedition Happiness (Expeditie Geluk) is a game for children from 6 until 12 to make them mentally resilient. It is aimed at primary schools. In the online game world, the whole class will work together to find video messages from famous people. Each of the tasks trains important social-emotional skills. 

Noknok

Noknok is a website and focuses on young people between the ages of 12 to 16 years old. It contains information and assignments to feel good about yourself. 

Family Platform 

Since 2014, the Family Platform was created. This is a knowledge and experience exchange platform for children and young people whose parents have mental problems, parents whose children have mental problems and persons whose partner, friends and/or family members have mental problems. 

Two houses (‘Tweehuizen’)

Two houses is tailor-made website, supported by the Flemish Government, for children and young people from divorced parents. Parents also find information on the website to help their children and young people in a difficult period. 

Awel

Awel, the previous Children- and Youth Telephone, is a helpline for young people. There is also a chat function. A volunteer listens to the child or young person's story. They work completely anonymously. It is free of charge.

Suicide 1813 

Suicide 1813 (Zelfmoord1813) is a website and suicide line to help young people of the Centre on Suicide Prevention (CPZ). CPZ has a management agreement with the Flemish Government as a partner organization with field operations. 

The website aims to be a starting point for anyone looking for information or help about suicide prevention. The website targets both people thinking about suicide, their environment, the general population, social workers and professionals, journalists, etc. The website also integrates a number of online tools including for example the support tool for parents “Help, my child is thinking about suicide” and Thinklife, an online self-help course which teaches young people to cope with suicidal thoughts. 

CPZ 

The Centre for the Prevention of Suicide (Centrum ter preventive van zelfdoding) is a non-profit organisation on the prevention of suicide. CPZ enables discussion within society about suicide and helps people to get through a suicidal crisis. It is a non-profit organisation whose basic objective is to prevent suicide. They have been doing this since 1979. The CPZ operates on the basis of three services, which are interlinked and complement each other: The Suicide Line 1813, the Training Service and the Study Service. Since 2013, the suicide portal www.zelfmoord1813.be has been the central gateway for anyone looking for information or help. All services and products of the CPZ are accessible via zelfmoord1813.be. The CPZ has been recognised by the Flemish government as an organisation with a field of suicide prevention through low-threshold telecare. In addition to Flemish subsidies, the CPZ also receives support from Actiris. The Brussels-Capital Region thus makes it possible to employ two full-time staff members.

Serious game ‘Silver’ (VLESP)

VLESP the Flemish Expertise Centre for Suicide Prevention, is the Flemish Government's partner organisation for suicide prevention and is, among other things, responsible for coordinating the Flemish Suicide Prevention Action Plan.

Silver is a game for young people aged between 12 and 16 that introduces young people to mental health and gives them skills to strengthen their mental health. Results from Silver's study showed that the game had a positive effect on emotion regulation skills. Indeed, after playing the game, the 36 adolescents became better at recognising, naming and understanding their emotions. In addition, a decrease in the presence of thinking errors was found among the adolescents. Continuation includes intensive follow-up and focus on broad implementation (including in the educational context) to achieve widespread reach. 

Upside Down house

In an  Upside Down house (OverKop-huis), the doors are open to young people aged 12 to 25. They can walk in without an appointment during opening hours. An OverKop house is a safe place where young people can have fun, hang out and meet friends. They can also find a listening ear if they want to chat about any problem. Whatever small or big question they have, OverKop will gladly help young people on their way.

In 2023, 33 OverKop houses were opened by 16 OverKop networks. In 2024 the number of OverKop houses increased to 70. In addition, in 2023, 2024 and 2025, a project grant was awarded to the 16 OverKop Networks with a view to strengthening the existing OverKop Houses and with a view to plotting a growth path towards supporting youth work partners in the area of psycho-education. For the initial project period (2021-2024), 1.6 million euros of relaunch funds were provided. In 2024, an additional budget of 2,3 million euros was allocated. This means that de budget for the OverKophuizen has been 3,9 million euros since 2024 (JKP final report).

TEJO

TEJO offers therapeutic guidance to young people from 10 until 20 years old. They offer anonymous, immediate, short and free help. TEJO wants to raise an attitude awareness for more time and positive attention to the development process of young people. They want to shape a social movement they call HOU-VAST (grip), under which various projects will be set up.

Flemish Network Choose Colour Against Bullying

Flemish Network Choose Colour Against Bullying (Vlaams Netwerk Kies Kleur tegen Pesten) is a voluntary alliance of organisations, associations and individuals who have expertise in the bullying issue and who have chosen to join forces and pursue a common course in this specific field. The Network aims to help prevent and reduce the problem of bullying among children and young people. The Flemish Network Choose Colour against Bullying focuses its attention on various areas of life (education, youth work, culture, welfare, sports, etc.) and enters into strategic alliances (including with partners such as Klasse, Ketnet, MNM, Radio2, etc.).

Strengthening resilience of children and young people in vulnerable situations

The Deparment of Culture, Youth and Media regularly commissions scientific research. We ask universities, colleges or specialised associations to delve deeper into youth themes or developments that affect children and young people.

One study concerns Strengthening resilience of children and young people in vulnerable situations. The assignment included intervision sessions as well as individual visits and focus discussions, where different actions complemented and fed into each other. The findings from the study were translated into a practical tool for organisations and stakeholders, including a roadmap, quick scan and a roadmap for workshops. Key recommendations include promoting resilient collaborations and effectively involving children and young people in the offer and its evaluation. 

Another research concerned Resilience and resilience in children and adolescents: concept analysis and development of a measurement tool. The researchers first analysed the existing literature and developed a conceptual model for resilience. A key conclusion from this phase was the need to define resilience as a dynamic process with five core components. With those conclusions and the definition of the resilience process, the second phase of the research started. During this, the researchers analysed existing measuring instruments and arrived at a new measuring instrument. That instrument guarantees the multi-layeredness of the concept of resilience, bundles several items from other questionnaires and adds new items. The questionnaire has already been tested a first time with 80 young people. The overview report covers topics such as mental health, resilience, resilience, coping mechanisms, stress, bullying, leisure, happiness, relationships, socioeconomic context, assistance, participation, data monitoring, surveys, measurement tools, quantitative research methodologies.

1712

1712 is a professional helpline for questions about violence, abuse and child abuse. 1712 is a cooperation between the Centra Algemeen Welzijnswerk (CAW) or General welfare centres and the Vertrouwenscentra Kindermishandeling or Trust centres for Child Abuse. Professional counsellors of the CAW and the Vertrouwenscentra Kindermishandeling offer help by telephone and online.

Tele-reception

Tele-reception (tele-onthaal) is primarily to offer a helping conversation to anyone looking for a listening ear or worried about something. Such a conversation can be by phone or chat and is always in Dutch. Secondly, if necessary, Tele-onthaal refers people to other services.

Lumi

Lumi is here for all your questions on gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. They offer a listening ear and a channel of information. They are anonymous, free and without prejudice.  

Now I talk about it

Now I talk about it (Nu praat ik erover) is a chat box for young people who have questions about or are victims of abuse or neglect and anyone experiencing sexual violence.

Child focus

Child focus is committed to finding missing children and fighting child sexual exploitation. You can always call the free emergency number 116 000 to report a disappearance or a case of sexual exploitation. Anyone who happens to come across sexual abuse images of minors can report them anonymously via the civil hotline. 

Centre for General Welfare work

Centre for General Welfare work (Centrum Algemeen Welzijnswerk – CAW) helps people with all their questions and problems related to welfare. A difficult relationship. Personal difficulties. Financial, administrative, legal or material problems. Problems in your family, relatives or wider social environment... They also offer help to victims and perpetrators of violence, abuse and those involved in road accidents and crimes.