From 1 January 2027 a youth care provider must separate youth care from its other work in its records. Every receipt and payment must be traceable to source and destination. In addition, it publishes an annual report every year. A youth care worker working solo is exempt.
The rules already apply to the financial year 2026. The first public annual report therefore covers 2026 and must be public before 1 June 2027. The Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) supervises compliance. If you set up your records for 2026 properly now, you avoid repair work afterwards.
In short
- From 2027 a youth care provider separates youth care from other work in its records, records the division of financial tasks in writing and makes every payment traceable.
- The first public annual report covers financial year 2026 and must be public before 1 June 2027. The NZa supervises.
- In home care a company received an NZa fine of € 100,000 in 2026, and its director € 30,000, because payments to the director were not traceable. From 2027 the Youth Act contains a similar obligation.
In this article
What changes in 2027 for a youth care provider's finances?
Two obligations are added: transparent financial management and a public annual report. They are in articles 4.5.1 and 4.5.2 of the Youth Act and apply to youth care providers and certified institutions, except for the youth care worker working solo (Youth Act, articles 4.5.1 and 4.5.2).
Both articles come into force on 1 January 2027. Because a financial report covers a whole financial year, they already apply to the financial year 2026. That annual report must be public before 1 June 2027. Oversight by the NZa also starts on 1 January 2027 (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2025, 283, explanatory note).
According to the government, the act is intended to prevent providers' financial problems from leading to care being lost. That is why it sets requirements for business structure and financial management. The tasks of the Youth Authority move to the NZa (Rijksoverheid, 7 October 2025).
What does keeping youth care money separate mean?
You distinguish financially between your youth care and your other professional or business activities (Youth Act, article 4.5.1(2)). If, besides youth care, you also sell training to schools or coaching to companies, your records must show what belongs to youth care and what does not.
In addition, you record in writing who has which tasks, powers and responsibilities in financial management. And in your financial records, receipts and payments are traceable to source and destination. It must also be clear who entered into which obligation at what moment (Youth Act, article 4.5.1(1) and (4)).
The act does not mention a separate bank account. What counts is that for each money flow you can show where the money came from and where it went. In practice this means: separate cost centres for youth care, a clear allocation of shared costs such as rent and administration, and an invoice or contract for each payment.
Do you also provide care to which article 40a of the Healthcare Market Regulation Act (Wmg) applies, for example as a combined institution with mental health or disability care? Then that Wmg article applies and not article 4.5.1 of the Youth Act (Youth Act, article 4.5.1(5)). This keeps combined institutions from falling under two regimes (Parliamentary paper 36 546, no. 3).
What happens if money flows are not traceable?
Then the NZa can step in. In September 2026 Balans Thuiszorg B.V., a provider of district nursing with about 130 clients, received a fine of € 100,000. The director personally received € 30,000, because they should have organised the financial records better (NZa, 21 September 2026).
The NZa found that, due to missing invoices and loan agreements, payments were not traceable, including payments to the director personally. There was no clear distinction between care and other activities, and it had not been recorded who had which financial task (NZa, 21 September 2026). This concerned article 40a of the Wmg, which sets the same three requirements as the new article 4.5.1 of the Youth Act.
The lesson for a youth care company: record every loan to or from the director or holding company in writing, with amount, interest and repayment. A current account without agreements is exactly what the NZa could not follow.
Who must publish an annual report, and what does it contain?
Every youth care provider that is not a youth care worker working solo, and every certified institution. The annual report covers the previous calendar year and consists of a financial report, supplemented by information requested by ministerial regulation (Youth Act, article 4.5.2).
The regulation may distinguish between types of provider, also for the audit by an accountant (Youth Act, article 4.5.2(3) and (4)). The details are in the Youth Act Annual Reporting Regulation, which also comes into force on 1 January 2027 (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2025, 283). Check in that regulation which requirements apply to your size.
Municipalities and providers that only supply transport for young people are exempt (Youth Act Decree, article 8.2.2). That exemption also takes effect on 1 January 2027 (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2025, 358). If you are also a care provider to which article 40b of the Wmg applies, you follow the annual reporting for care and not that of the Youth Act (Youth Act, article 4.5.2(5)).
What do you arrange now for the financial year 2026?
Everything that must be traceable for 2026 must be recorded in 2026. Creating an invoice or loan agreement afterwards does not convince a supervisor. So start now, even if 2026 is almost over.
- Write down who in your organisation has which financial tasks and powers, for example who may make payments and up to what amount.
- Create separate cost centres or projects in your accounts for youth care and for other work, and record how you allocate shared costs.
- Make sure there is an invoice, contract or written agreement for every expense, including payments to the director, the holding company or family.
- Reconcile your claims per municipality or region with the revenue in your accounts, so that the income per funder is correct.
- Put the 2026 annual report in your calendar, with the deadline before 1 June 2027.
Separate records also help with your own planning. If you know per funder what comes in and when, you can look ahead better. Read more in how reliable is a cash flow forecast.
What do those records give you?
Insight into what youth care really costs you. Research on Dutch long-term care found that administrative costs are a considerable share of spending, but are hidden in regular statistics. After the 2015 reform the researchers could not establish whether those costs had fallen, because the data were not good enough (Hagenaars et al., 2021).
The same applies at the level of your own business. If the costs of administration, claiming and reporting are not visible separately, you do not know what a contract with a municipality really earns you. With cost centres per funder, you can see it.
Procurement also plays a part. In interviews with professionals in Dutch child and adolescent mental health care, they named inefficient cooperation between providers, education and municipalities and procurement problems as causes of poor throughput and waiting times (Van der Linden et al., 2026). This is what professionals perceive, not measured effects. A provider that knows its costs and income per municipality is in a stronger position in that conversation.
Sources
- Youth Act (Jeugdwet), articles 4.5.1 and 4.5.2 (in force 1 January 2027), version of 1 January 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
- Decree of 15 October 2025 on the entry into force of the Youth Care Availability Act, with explanatory note, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2025, 283. officielebekendmakingen.nl
- Rijksoverheid, Eerste Kamer stemt in met wet voor betere beschikbaarheid jeugdzorg (Senate approves act for better availability of youth care), news item, 7 October 2025. rijksoverheid.nl
- House of Representatives, Parliamentary paper 36 546, no. 3, explanatory memorandum to the Youth Care Availability Act. officielebekendmakingen.nl
- NZa, Boete voor thuiszorgorganisatie Balans Thuiszorg B.V. wegens gebrekkige financiële bedrijfsvoering (Fine for home care organisation Balans Thuiszorg B.V. for deficient financial management), news item, 21 September 2026. nza.nl
- Decree on improving the availability of youth care (amendment of the Youth Act Decree), Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2025, 357, articles 8.2.1 and 8.2.2. officielebekendmakingen.nl
- Decree of 5 November 2025 on the entry into force of the Decree on improving the availability of youth care, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2025, 358. officielebekendmakingen.nl
- Hagenaars, L. L., Van Hilten, O., Klazinga, N. S. & Jeurissen, P. (2021). Track and trace of administrative costs in the Dutch long-term care system. Journal of Long-Term Care, 2021, 318. doi.org
- Van der Linden, N., Amirjalali, L., Roeleveld, I. & Van der Linden, C. M. (2026). Drivers of waiting times in youth mental health care: a root-cause analysis. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 1-9. doi.org