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Abstract

It is estimated that 3.5 to 12% of Dutch youngsters suffer from severe psychosocial problems: emotional or behavioural problems hampering their social functioning. A large share of this group is currently not recognised by organisations such as schools, youth care, health care or welfare. Of those youngsters who are known, not all problems are recognised. Besides, many care takers do not know of each others involvement with the same youngster, leave aside the information available or interventions taken. In this research an exploration into the most important policy considerations regarding information systems supporting the recognition of children with psychosocial problems has been carried out. The aim of such systems is twofold: to increase the number of children recognised, and to improve the comprehensiveness of those insights. The principal considerations that policy-makers at every level of government should take into account are not related to technology. Rather, institutions such as laws and regulations, the design of organisations and collaboration, and the use of policy instruments should be decided upon. The report identifies eight policy recommendations: (1) Exchange as little information as needed. (2) Consider the availability, effectiveness and desirability of interventions before collecting information. (3) Assess each system in its own right. Pay particular attention to a detailed normative analysis. No one size-fits-all solution exists. (4) When considering incident-driven systems, involve multiple professions and use a basic computer system. Decide on the type of information to exchange (contact details or limited substantial information) and the usage of risk factors. (5) When considering life-cycle-driven systems, limit the access to data to a single profession and collect substantial information. Decide on the use of expert systems and the usage of risk factors. (6) Do not exchange medical information with non-medical professions with the use of an information system. (7) Do not impose a compulsory reporting scheme for suspected child abuse or other developmental barriers, before the effect of other policy measures is clear. (8) Central government should take a stance on the desirability of risk factors, the reporting regime and a taxonomy of reporting codes.