introduction
Thousands of children in the Netherlands no longer live at home. They have been neglected, abused, fled from violence or placed out of home because they were no longer safe there. 2twintig has been helping the foundation for the forgotten children for several years to put the issues of these children on the agenda, so that the general public, the media, policy makers and donors do not forget them.
The theme of the tenth, most recent edition of the week of the forgotten child (Jan. 29 to Feb. 4, 2022) was “stop closed youth care.” through a petition, the foundation wanted to ask for the support of the Netherlands to stop the incarceration of children with severe traumas and complex problems.
In 2020, over 1,800 children in the Netherlands were in closed youth care for short or long periods of time, even though they had done nothing punishable. These children do not benefit from confinement. indeed, research has shown that confinement and other freedom-restricting measures lead to even greater psychological problems and new traumas in 76% of children.
approach
The aim of the campaign was to put the issue on the agenda, recruit new donors and, of course, get the petition signed so that the law can be amended and good alternatives will soon be forthcoming.
For the story, we approached journalists personally, with a differentiated storyline, relevant to the mediatype and the portfolio to the journalist works for. For a visually strong image to support the story, we went with a bus, decorated like a prison, to the Binnenhof to present the signed petition to policymakers. Ambassadors of the foundation Jörgen Raymann, Glenn Faria, Natasja Froger and Jamai were also there and once again told the media the importance of a different approach for these children in youth care.
result
Partly thanks to the differentiated earned media strategy of 2twintig, The Forgotten Child Foundation achieved over €6 million in earned PR value (144 print publications, 161 online publications, 31 TV and 45 radio items, 64 facebook publications and 102 instagram publications).