Ten Years After Jordy Brouillard’s Death: What Has Changed in Belgium’s Youth Care?

Ten years ago this week, the body of 19-year-old Jordy Brouillard was found in a tent hidden in the bushes of the Blaarmeersen recreation area in Ghent. He had died of hunger and thirst during a heatwave, with no money left for food or drink. His death sparked national outrage and exposed a critical gap in Belgium’s youth care system: when young people turned 18, care stopped, even if they were not ready for independence.

Jordy had spent most of his childhood in youth care institutions. He had a light form of autism and was described as intellectually disabled. At 18, he voluntarily left the institution where he had grown up. Because he had never appeared before a juvenile court, had no major addiction, or psychological problems, no one followed up on him after he left, as VRT NWS reported. In the weeks before his death, Jordy asked for support on social media: “I hope I quickly get through this bad period. Hopefully I become the old me again. All support is welcome.”

A National Reckoning

The death triggered a wave of public grief and anger. A crowdfunding campaign raised over 8,500 euros for his funeral, as NOS reported. His former supervisor called the death “avoidable, an absolute disgrace and a collective failure,” according to NOS Op3.

Jordy’s story resonated far beyond Belgium. “We all know the saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child’,” said Luc Deneffe, former director of the De Wissel youth care facility in Leuven. “But at Jordy’s death I often asked myself: where was ‘the village’?”

The Action Plan for Young Adults

In May 2017, less than a year after Jordy’s death, the Flemish government launched the ‘Actieplan Jongvolwassenen’ (Action Plan for Young Adults). The most significant change: young people can now receive guidance until age 25, if they want it. Previously, care stopped at 18 in principle. From age 16, institutions must create a growth plan with each young person, mapping out what support is needed for the transition to adulthood, as VRT NWS detailed in its 10-year retrospective.

In 2018-2019, an additional 25 million euros was allocated for youth care, including small-scale housing units where 4-6 young adults aged 16-25 live with support from a supervisor. The number of +18-year-olds in youth care rose from 2,572 in 2017 to 3,641 in 2021—a 40% increase in five years, according to Opgroeien.

Progress and Persistent Gaps

Three years after Jordy’s death, Jan Bots of the Antwerp shelter Wingerdbloei noted increased awareness but cautioned that “we are certainly not at the finish line,” as VRT NWS reported in 2019. “Help doesn’t stop at 18,” he said. “Parents don’t put their children out on the street at 18 either.”

By 2023, the care inspectorate’s extensive review of youth care organizations found that in 94% of organizations, support questions start from young people’s own expectations and dreams, and in 9 out of 10, active aftercare is structurally organized. Yet concrete aftercare agreements—how often contact happens, how long support lasts—were often lacking.

Housing: The Biggest Bottleneck

Housing remains the most persistent challenge. One in five homeless people in Flanders is between 16 and 25 years old, and a quarter of homeless young people are those who left youth care. Waiting lists for social housing are long, and landlords sometimes refuse to rent to young people from youth care due to stigma, as HLN reported in 2021.

“A young person cannot focus on work, study, or budget management when they don’t have a roof over their head,” said Jeroen Stuyck, director of the Ter Loke facility in Turnhout.

In October 2025, the Flemish government approved the ‘Masterplan Jeugdhulp’ (Master Plan Youth Care), emphasizing a roof over every young person’s head. Current Minister of Welfare Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) said: “Even if you’re 18 and you’ve left the youth institution: we don’t let you go. That’s the message I want to give to those young people. Together with Wonen Vlaanderen we help find an affordable and safe place to live,” as Opgroeien reported.

The Vooruit party has since announced a comprehensive plan to tackle homelessness, with particular attention to vulnerable young people leaving youth care.

Voices From Inside the System

Today’s young people in care describe a system that has improved but remains fragile. Caitlin, 18, who turned 18 in January 2026, can stay in her studio at the institution until age 25. “I can barely cook,” she admitted to VRT NWS. “I buy things in the store to heat up.” She receives budget guidance: 60 euros every week. “I manage with that. I only buy clothes or a vape after that.”

Cedric, also 18, had a rocky path through youth care. “I wasn’t a pushover, did a lot of bad things,” he said. “They almost sent me to Mol (the closed community institution). But here in the institution they believed in me and gave me another chance.” He wants to make a home for his younger siblings, who are also placed in care.

Experts point to deeper challenges. “The biggest challenge is the attachment problems among young people,” said Joost Bonte, a former street corner worker. “They move a lot between facilities, have no sense of home.” He noted that young people in care often experience “care fatigue”—by 18, they are so fed up with institutional rules that they turn their backs on youth care entirely.

The Loneliness Factor

Loneliness remains one of the most devastating aspects of leaving care. “It’s especially the loneliness that is killing,” said Yana, a 24-year-old former youth care recipient, in 2021. “You learn a lot in an institution: cooking, cleaning, ironing, budget management. But how to make friends, nobody teaches you that.”

A young person in care told VRT NWS: “There aren’t many parents who want to invite us to their homes. They’re afraid of the bad influence we might have.”

What’s Next

Ten years after Jordy’s death, the system has fundamentally changed. Care can now extend to age 25, growth plans prepare young people from age 16, and housing is a policy priority. The number of young adults in care has grown dramatically.

Yet the gaps remain: staff shortages, long waiting lists, stigma, and the deep-rooted attachment problems that make it hard for young people to build the networks they need. As youth rights lawyer Reinhilde Goossens put it: “Jordy’s story hit so hard that everyone in the sector stood still and thought: what did we not see?”

The question now is whether the next ten years will close those gaps—or whether another Jordy will slip through.