The Child and Family Agency (in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''Agentschap Kind en Gezin'', often just called ''Kind en Gezin'') is an

agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that ...

of the

Flemish Government The Flemish Government ( nl, Vlaamse regering ) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Parliament, ...

. The Flemish Government is the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ...

of the

Flemish Community The Flemish Community ( nl, Vlaamse Gemeenschap ; french: Communauté flamande ; german: Flämische Gemeinschaft ) is one of the three institutional communities of Belgium, established by the Belgian constitution and having legal responsibilitie ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. In Belgium, the

Communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place (geography), place, Norm (social), norms, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Identity (social science), identity. Communiti ...

are responsible for the provision of

child and family services Child and family services is a government or non-profit organisation designed to better the well being of individuals who come from unfortunate situations, ''environmental'' or ''biological''. People who seek or are sought after to participate i ...

. The Child and Family Agency has three main tasks: the

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...

and subsidising of child care services (the agency does not provide child care services itself), the provision of preventive family support services (such as prenatal guidance,

vaccinations Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

and

child development Child development involves the Human development (biology), biological, developmental psychology, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. Childhood is divided into 3 stages o ...

testing through infant welfare clinics and home visits) and guidance to parents and children in cases of

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

. The agency also recognises and subsidises so-called ''confidential centres on child abuse'', which offer voluntary assistance in cases of

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

or child neglect. For the inspection of child care services, the agency relies on the Flemish Care Inspectorate. The agency is part of the so-called Welfare, Public Health and Family policy area, which consists of the Department of Welfare, Public Health and Family and a few associated agencies such as the Child and Family Agency. The minister responsible for the agency is the minister of Welfare, Public Health and Family of the Flemish Government. The current minister in the

Bourgeois Government The Bourgeois Government (''Regering-Bourgeois'') was the Flemish Government formed following the 2014 Flemish Parliament election. The cabinet consisted of a centre-right coalition of the nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the Christian D ...

, which assumed office in 2014, is

Jo Vandeurzen Johan Maria Gerardus Vandeurzen (born 2 June 1958) is a Belgian politician, member of ''Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams'' (CD&V), a centrist Flemish Christian Democratic party. Vandeurzen holds a Master of Laws degree from the Catholic Univers ...

of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party. The agency itself is led by an administrator-general.

History

The Child and Family Agency has its roots in the National Work for Child Welfare, which was founded in 1919 just after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

by the national government of Belgium. During the second state reform in 1980, the responsibility for child and family policy was transferred to the newly created Communities of Belgium. As a result, the National Work for Child Welfare was split, and in 1984 the Child and Family institution was created as its successor for the Flemish Community. In 1987, the institution was officially founded as a Flemish public institution (in Dutch: ''Vlaamse openbare instelling'', shortened to VOI). During the reform of the Flemish public administration in 2006, the institution became a so-called ''internally autonomous agency with

legal person In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...

ality'' of the Welfare, Public Health and Family policy area. In June 2018, the Flemish government decided on a proposal of minister Jo Vandeurzen to merge the Child and Family Agency with the Flemish Youth Welfare Agency, in order to achieve an integrated policy around children. 'Youth and Family Agency' was chosen as a working name for the new agency that would be founded.

References

{{Authority control Flemish government departments and agencies Child welfare

History

See also

References