For counsellors without a legal background, questions around debt issues are often difficult to answer. To support these informal caregivers, we are establishing a legal back office for informal caregivers: the Schuldenbrug.

Our information provision is being developed by UvA students and researchers and we are advised by Gemeente Amsterdam, HvA, Sociale maatschap and Regenbooggroep. The project starts on 1 September 2024. 

Goals

• Contribute to addressing Amsterdam's debt problems by providing legal assistance to non-legal aid workers who have clients with (also) financial problems.
• Increase knowledge on complex legal issues related to debt problems by conducting (practice-oriented) research.

Activities

• Giving low-threshold legal advice to informal helpers.
• Setting up and coordinating a network of informal organisations in Amsterdam in need of legal information.
• Designing, coordinating and conducting academic research on complex legal issues surrounding debt.
• Training a new generation of law students (WO and HBO) with a broad social perspective.

Impact numbers

We are currently in the preparatory phase.

• Students
  A group of five law students are laying the groundwork for this law clinic.
  They are: Jessenia Acevedo Cruz, Sam de Valk, Farah Qureshi, Feline Thoenes and Fiore van der Linden.
• Advisory Committee
  A committee advises on its establishment, consisting of: Nadja Jungmann (professor of Debt Problems, UvA), Anna Custers (HvA), Sjoerd Bakker (process director of debt assistance at Gemeente Amsterdam), Will van Schendel (director, De Sociale Maatschap).
• Funds
  Amsterdams Universiteitsfonds has given a financial contribution to fund the preparatory phase.

Contact

For questions or interest, please contact Susan Leclercq or Tim Verheij.