Karen describes what waiting means
In a testimony published in July, a young woman named Karen said she had spent 14 years waiting for a personal budget. She wanted to leave her parents’ home but needed support to do so. “My life is really standing still,” she said, describing continued reliance on relatives and friends. [2]
Recruitment and funding belong together
GRIP argued that personal assistance remained poorly understood by the public and by potential workers. Its November statement asked welfare minister Caroline Gennez to act on 13 recommendations from a December 2021 manifesto. These included better information, adequate funding and help with recruiting and training, so that a budget could become usable support.
Official figures show the younger group’s budgets
The Flemish agency VAPH later reported 2,450 children and young adults holding a personal-assistance budget at the end of 2024, with 244 new awards during the year. These PAB budgets support younger recipients. Karen’s account concerned the separate personal-budget arrangements for adults, highlighting another part of the debate over access. [3]