In total, 233,000 youngsters in the Netherlands are receiving some form of psychological care or social worker supervision, the national statistics office CBS said on Friday.

Since January 1, local councils have been responsible for all forms of youth care and this is the first time official figures showing how many children are involved have been published.

Some 3.5 million people out of the Dutch population of 16.8 million are under the age of 18.

Most – 85% – are receiving some form of psychiatric help or behavioural therapy. Some 12% are being looked after by child protection officials and 3% are on probation. The number of boys receiving help far outstrips the number of girls, particularly in the under-12 age group, the CBS said.

Meanwhile, the Volkskrant says on Friday that some care providers have run through their budgets already, meaning children who need help in the second half of the year may have to join waiting lists to see the practitioner of their choice.

This is because local councils have not bought-in enough care at the start of the year because of budget cuts, the paper says.

The Dutch psychologists’ institute NIP said it had received notification of shortages from all over the country.

One psychotherapist told the paper she had had to reject 20 youngsters in one morning because the council had not allocated any more money to pay for treatment at her practice.