Brussels MEP Ilyas Mouani (Vooruit.brusselsBram Vangeel has asked Minister of Welfare Alain Maron (Écolo) to urgently provide clarity on the waiting lists in Brussels youth care. He did this during the Health Committee in the Brussels Parliament. Before the summer, Maron had announced a cooperation agreement with the two communities, but since then, silence has prevailed. “Meanwhile, according to the minister, there is a draft for that agreement, but two precious months have already passed again,” responds Mouani.
Last August, juvenile judge Denis Goeman sounded the alarm: a ticket for a Taylor Swift concert is easier to obtain than a place for a young person in youth care in Brussels. The Standard Then came the reconstruction of the suffering of L., the 11-year-old girl who could not be placed in a facility. The consequences are known: L. ended up in a hospital, from which she fled and was subsequently raped.
“Heart-rending examples of the situation in Brussels” youth care sector", said Vooruit.brussels MP Ilyas Mouani today at the Health Committee in the Brussels Parliament. “As early as 2023, L.”s parents sought psychological help for the first time, but they were faced with waiting lists.”
Mouani therefore wanted the Minister of Welfare, Alain Maron (Écolo), to provide clarity on the evolution of the situation in Brussels. Maron had already announced at the beginning of the summer that a cooperation agreement would be reached with the two communities and that adapting the 2019 ordinance was also an option. But silence followed.
Care and decisiveness
Today, the minister confirmed that a draft for the cooperation agreement has been available since September. The amendment of the ordinance in question also remains a possibility.
“It's positive that steps have been taken in the right direction,” stated Mouani, “But meanwhile, two valuable months have already passed. L. is unfortunately not an isolated case. Sadly, there are still young people in our capital who are in the same precarious situation. I hope we won't have to hear any more similar stories before the agreement is actually in place. My message, therefore, is: there is no more time to waste.” Sure.
Mouani also refers to Flanders: “In Flanders, Flemish Minister of Welfare Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) is investing unprecedentedly in youth care, precisely to avoid these kinds of tragedies. In Brussels too, vulnerable young people deserve the care they need and politicians who show decisiveness,” he concluded. Vooruit.brussels MP.