Hilversum, 11 February 2010 – On 1 February 2010 the Dutch Province of Groningen put the system ‘Care for Kids Groningen‘ of Inter Access into service. The Province, Municipalities and the child care aid agencies involved implemented this internet solution in the past few months.
Care for Kids (Zorg voor Jeugd) is aimed at identifying children at risk in the age from 0 to 23 years and at the coordination of treatment and supervision for this group of kids. Inter Access built this internet solution in collaboration with the Municipality of Helmond in 2005. Now, more than 120 Municipalities have implemented this system. Care for Kids enables local and regional aid agencies to coordinate care for children. With this system all agencies are able to inform each other in real-time, without delay, about their interference. The only thing that is visible for other agencies is whether a child is registered. No information is disclosed within the system about, for example, personal issues and treatment. This information is only accessible to the agency where the child is admitted. The focus of Care for Kids is on leveraging the aid coordination by efficient exchange of information.
The coordination of aid is based on an agreement between every agency connected. Together they establish which party is responsible for the coordination of care. A special care coordinator is authorized to assemble all social workers around one child, to offer tailor-made aid. In this way organizations can prevent working at cross-purposes; a situation that in the past has caused poignant situations. Thanks to Care for Kids, there is never any ambiguity about the agency that is responsible for a certain child.
“As administrators we applauded the introduction of the tracking system Care for Kids from the start. Therefore, we are very proud that we in Groningen managed to work with Municipalities, agencies and professionals to launch this reference index together,” said Pim de Bruijne, member of the Provincial Executive of the Province of Groningen.
Jannie Visscher, Youth portfolio holder of the Association of Municipalities in Groningen, adds: “We are confident that Care for Kids Groningen will contribute to the prevention of risks that children encounter, to a better child care and as a result to better opportunities for the youth of Groningen.”
“We are enthusiastic about the choice of the Province of Groningen for our Care for Kids solution,” said Jeroen Speekenbrink, manager E-Government at Inter Access. “With this project we underline our special expertise in the field of government solutions and in particular of care. Care for Kids is a proven solution, also in practice. With this agreement, we substantially extend the user group, which also stimulates the further development of our solution.”
Care for Kids Groningen is a project of the Municipalities and Province of Groningen. It is supported by the action program Maatschappelijke Sectoren & ICT (Social Sectors & ICT). More information on the project (in Dutch) is available at www.zorgvoorjeugd.nu
Inter Access B.V.Suzanne DirkenPhone: +31 (0)35 688 84 00E-mail: Suzanne.Dirken@interaccess.nl
Lammers van Toorenburg Benelux PRMarije PerdonPhone: +31 (0)30 656 50 70E-mail: interaccess@lvtpr.nl