On 8 October the gemeente of Utrecht announced that it has chosen Stichting Jongerenwerk Utrecht, known as JOU, to carry out the city's youth work from 2027. JOU has been active in Utrecht for fifteen years, according to the gemeente. The contract changes what youth workers do in several ways that will matter to families, schools and neighbourhoods.

What youth workers do

Youth workers (jongerenwerkers) make contact with young people on the street, in neighbourhood centres, at school and online. The gemeente says they encourage young people to discover their talents and step in when things go wrong, which it argues helps both the individual and wider society.

What changes

Compared with the previous subsidy period, the gemeente lists three shifts:

- School-based youth work will be intensified. - Some youth workers will be assigned specifically to keep vulnerable young people from sliding into (organised) crime. - JOU will help young people with mental health complaints through group-based work rather than only one-to-one support.

The gemeente's tender document, the Nota van Uitgangspunten dated 13 January 2026, gives more detail. From 2027 youth work is aimed at vulnerable young people aged 10 to 23, with room for individual arrangements beyond that age. The document says demand from primary schools, secondary schools and vocational colleges has grown considerably in recent years, and that the new contract should deliver "more and structural" school youth work.

The final decision on whether to bring in a youth worker stays with each school. The gemeente sets conditions: a collaboration of at least two years, support from school management, a fixed contact person and space in the building, and a contribution from the school itself. The document also says youth workers should spend part of their time outside school, in the neighbourhood, to keep the different parts of a young person's life connected. Schools will be prioritised partly on their "onderwijskansenscores", a measure of educational disadvantage.

The specialist team is described in the document as a young field: bidders had to submit a plan for professionalising it over the contract period.

A contract of up to ten years

The contract begins on 1 January 2027. The tender document describes an initial term of four years with extension options of four and two years, which would take it through 31 December 2036. The gemeente sees the end of 2030 as a natural moment to evaluate whether the partnership meets expectations. Until now Utrecht had a subsidy arrangement with one large organisation for 2020 to 2026.

Wethouder Dennis de Vries (Youth) said "good youth work is incredibly important" and that JOU has extensive knowledge and experience in Utrecht and a broad, strong network. JOU director Nienke Kuyvenhoven said she was "very happy" that the organisation can keep working for the city's young people for the next ten years. These are the parties' own statements about the outcome.

The money, and a caveat

The tender document puts the contract value at €211 million, but stresses that this is not the same as the money in the municipal budget. It says that includes indexation, population growth and a 30 per cent safety margin so that the city does not need to re-tender mid-contract. The budget actually available is €106 million for a maximum of ten years. The document also says the gemeente's finances are under pressure, that budgets are assumed to stay flat, and that expanding school and specialist work means doing less elsewhere, with a shift towards group work except for young people moving towards crime.

The gemeente's announcement does not give a budget figure or say how many bids it received.