Translated from Wegener Dagbladen, 23 September 1999

[Dutch] Minister of Justice Korthals wants to combat youth criminality in the large cities with an American method. 'Communities that Care’ is a program to prevent youth criminality and drugs use that has had good success in the USA. Korthals will start experiments in the problem areas of four Dutch cities.

Korthals expects that the local councils will invest in the project. The projects aim that children feel good at home and at school. City areas will be selected, where are great problems such as drugs use, criminality, unemployment and deteriorating. The project starts with an stocktaking of the risks for youth in those areas to slide down. 

Korthals hopes to find out if the American approach also may have success in The Netherlands. In that case, also other cities may start the project.

Respect

Participants to Communities That Care (CTC) create self-respect by means of showing a great involvement for parents and families. Families, the mainstay of society, form the basis to teach problem youths to stop with drugs use, to correct themselves and to search for a job. By doeing so, criminality would decrease and the deteriorating of those areas would be combated.

The parents have also a task. They should intensively stimulate their children and guide them in trying to keep to the straight and the narrow. CTC means that it is also necessary to give the parents extra education in order to bridge the gap between family and school.

The Internet has an important role in the project. Parents have to be trained to use the Web, to become able to speak with their children about what they learn at school. By doing so, the gap between parents and school will be bridged and the involvement of the parents will be strengthened. The students will receive extra help to strengthen their chances for success at school. The schools will have to adapt their lessons.