Minister: let children in foster families stay until 21

DutchNews.nl

The Netherlands' health minister Hugo de Jonge has proposed a plan to allow foster youth to stay in care until the age of 21, extending it from the current maximum age of 18, according to this article from DutchNews.nl. Currently, foster families' legal responsibilities to children in their care, and the funding they receive for providing that care, end when the child turns 18. de Jonge hopes to extend funding and care until the age of 21, saying "young people who reach the age of 18 still aren’t the finished article. And that’s certainly true for children who’ve grown up in foster families. Their domestic situation is much more complicated. A child should only be able to leave the family before the age of 21 if they’re really ready for it."