[Health care for young people: are we going in the right direction?]

The Dutch Public Health Forecast on health services for young people was published recently. This forecast is a landmark for further improvement of the health status of young people in the Netherlands, with adverse health behaviours and vulnerable groups being the major remaining challenges. The report also notes that the planned changes in psychosocial care for young people from 2015 onwards may comply with necessary updates within preventive care. In these changes, local councils will play a much greater role in the planning and financing of child and adolescent preventive, social, and mental healthcare. However, these changes also imply major risks regarding the quality and costs of this care, and regarding the possibilities for referral from the healthcare system to child and adolescent mental healthcare. This warrants thorough monitoring of unwanted effects on the quality of prevention and of care for young people.