Quality assurance of social services - Maatschappelijke Diensttijd MDT

The social service programme for young people, Maatschappelijke Diensttijd MDT, was developed in 2018 and is described in Paragraph 2.4 under 'Funding'. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport has ordered a research office to monitor the developments of the experimental projects that have started within the frame of this programme. They wanted to appoint the operative elements in the big variety of projects. In the beginning of 2019 the amount of projects were extended. Mid 2019 it was decided how the social service programme would continue, based on the experience during the pilot projects.

Research on MDT



The National Youth Council NJR researched the MDT programme and young people’s motivation for doing social service. The research is published in the report ‘Achter de motivatie van jongeren voor vrijwillige inzet Een onderzoek in het kader van de maatschappelijke diensttijd’ (February 2019) (Behind the motivation of young people for volunteering An investigation in the context of social service time). Two questions were researched: 1. Which young people are motivated to volunteer, and which young people are less so?; 2. Which factors determine this and how can you corporate this into the design of a social service programme?

Certificate



For their contribution during social service young people can get a volunteer fee. They can also get a certificate or references, which can be helpful in finding a job.