Universitair Forensisch Centrum (UFC)

What Universitair Forensisch Centrum (UFC) does

The Universitair Forensisch Centrum (UFC), formally recognized in 1998, is a specialized forensic psychiatry and psychology center operating as the Flemish Support Center under the Cooperation Agreement between the Belgian Federal State and the Flemish Community for the treatment and supervision of sexual offenders. It is housed within the Psychiatric Department of Universitair Ziekenhuis Antwerpen (UZA) in Edegem, Belgium, and maintains a close research affiliation with the Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI) at the University of Antwerp. UFC operates through a dual structure: a Treatment Center (Behandelcentrum) providing outpatient clinical interventions for persons with problematic sexual behaviors (both judicially referred and voluntary), and a Support Center (Steuncentrum) delivering consultation, training, scientific research, and network coordination for forensic professionals in Flanders and Brussels.

UFC's service portfolio includes CBT-based outpatient treatment with relapse prevention protocols, Static-Stable-Acute (SSA) risk assessment training (Static-99R, Stable-2007, Acute-2007 instruments), the Stop it Now! Vlaanderen prevention helpline, the Contextproject for family members of offenders, the Salus app developed through the PROTECH EU consortium, scientific publications (Handboek and Casusboek), the Social Map of specialized facilities, and a forensic library of over 700 scientific works supported by access to 7 peer-reviewed international journals. The team is multidisciplinary and compact, comprising approximately 7 core staff plus interns and rotating psychiatry residents.

UFC's business model is fundamentally public-sector: clinical fees (psychologist consultations at €21.65 per session, partially reimbursed through Belgian health insurance/Ziekenfonds), project-based government grants (notably from the Flemish Department of Welfare for the Contextproject), consortium research funding (PROTECH), and embedded funding within UZA's academic and psychiatric budgets. It is not a commercial enterprise, has no investors or stock listing, and derives its strategic position from a statutory mandate rather than market competition. Geographic scope is regional (Flanders and Brussels), with international engagement limited to the PROTECH consortium and the cross-border Stop it Now! network.

Name

Universitair Forensisch Centrum (UFC)

Legal name

Universitair Forensisch Centrum (UFC)

Website

https://ufc.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

UFC is the Flemish Support Center for combating sexual delinquency, providing outpatient clinical treatment for persons with problematic sexual behaviors and scientific, training, and network support for forensic professionals, under a statutory Belgian Federal-Flemish cooperation agreement established in 1998.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Edegem, Antwerpen

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Outpatient Clinical Consultations: The UFC operates as part of the Universitair Ziekenhuis Antwerpen (UZA) and provides outpatient clinical consultations. Consultations with psychologists and psychiatrists are the primary service offering, with reimbursement through the Belgian health insurance system (ziekenfonds).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Universitair Forensisch Centrum (UFC) is a publicly funded forensic psychiatry center that provides specialized outpatient cognitive behavioral therapy and risk assessment treatment for individuals with problematic or sexually transgressive behavior, both under judicial supervision and on a voluntary self-referred basis. It also operates as the statutory Flemish Support Center, delivering consultation, training, scientific research, and network coordination to forensic professionals, justice houses, prison services, and government partners in Flanders and Brussels under the 1998 Federal-Flemish Cooperation Agreement.

Product overview

The Universitair Forensisch Centrum (UFC) operates as a dual-structure healthcare organization consisting of a Treatment Center (Behandelcentrum) providing specialized outpatient treatment for individuals with problematic sexual behaviors, and a Support Center (Steuncentrum) offering consultation, education, and research support for forensic professionals. Key offerings include the Stop it Now! Vlaanderen prevention program with its confidential helpline, the Salus app developed through the PROTECH European project, professional training programs for risk assessment (Static-Stable-Acute), and scientific publications including handbooks and case books on sexual offender treatment. Additional services include the Contextproject for family support, the Social Map documenting Flemish care offerings, and an extensive forensic library.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Behandelcentrum (Treatment Center) Specialized outpatient treatment center providing cognitive behavioral therapy and relapse prevention for individuals with problematic sexual thoughts, fantasies, or behaviors, serving both persons under judicial supervision and voluntary self-referred clients.
• Steuncentrum (Support Center) Statutorily recognized Flemish support center providing consultation, education, scientific research, and network coordination for forensic care professionals, justice houses, prison services, and government partners in Flanders and Brussels.
• Stop it Now! Vlaanderen Confidential helpline and prevention program for individuals concerned about their own or others' sexual feelings or behavior toward minors, part of the international Stop it Now! prevention network.
• Contextproject Psycho-educational and therapeutic support service for partners, parents, children, and other context figures of potential or actual sexual offenders, strengthening the support network around the offender for relapse prevention.
• Salus App (PROTECH Project) Mobile application developed in partnership with a European consortium that uses machine learning to detect and block child sexual abuse material, helping prevent online child sexual abuse.
• Static-Stable-Acute Training Program Professional training program teaching certified use of the STATIC-99R, STABLE-2007, and ACUTE-2007 risk assessment instruments for evaluating future sexual and violent offending risk in sexual offenders.
• Sociale Kaart (Social Map) Biennially updated comprehensive overview of specialized care offerings for sexual offenders across Flanders, developed by UFC as the support center in collaboration with treatment partners.
• Forensische Bibliotheek (Forensic Library) Extensive forensic library containing over 700 scientific works on sexual abuse, offender treatment, forensic psychology, forensic psychiatry, CBT for offenders, and ethics, with access to 7 international peer-reviewed journals, available by appointment.
• Basisopleiding Seksuele Delinquentie (Basic Training) Two-day foundational training program for justice house professionals covering sexual offender phenomena, profiles, risk factors, and the Federal-Flemish Cooperation Agreement framework.

Quantifiable outcome

• UFC handles approximately 100 consultation questions per year from professionals
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• PROTECH Consortium (EU-funded)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2023UFC represented Belgium in the PROTECH EU project (March 2023 – March 2025, budget of 2 million euros) alongside partners from Netherlands, Germany, UK, and Ireland. The project developed the Salus app to prevent online child sexual abuse. UFC was responsible for data collection and implementation in the Belgian pilot.
• Universiteit Antwerpen / CAPRI (Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 October 1998UFC works closely with CAPRI of the University of Antwerp. Prof. dr. Kris Goethals is a professor of forensic psychiatry at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Antwerp. Research collaborations include doctoral projects, journal clubs, and joint publications.
• Federal State Belgium and Flemish Community (Cooperation Agreement)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 October 1998UFC was recognized in 1998 as the Flemish Support Center under the Cooperation Agreement between the Federal State and the Flemish Community for the accompaniment and treatment of perpetrators of sexual abuse. The agreement establishes a two-track policy: punishment/control and treatment.
• Psychosocial Services of Penitententiary Institutions (PSD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners within the Cooperation Agreement that refer clients to UFC for specialized treatment. They handle intake for persons in prison.
• Justice Houses in Flanders and Brussels (Justitiehuizen)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners within the Cooperation Agreement that facilitate referrals and supervise offenders under judicial conditions. UFC provides training for justice house staff on sexual offending.
• Vlaams Begeleidingscomité (Flemish Steering Committee)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Flemish Steering Committee oversees the implementation of the Cooperation Agreement. UFC represents the treatment perspective in this committee and coordinates the Social Map of specialized facilities.
• Stop it Now! InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUFC supports and houses Stop it Now! Vlaanderen, part of an international prevention project originating in the US (1992), now active in the US, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, and Belgium. It provides a helpline for people with concerns about sexual feelings toward minors.
• I.T.E.R. – Ambulantly Treatment Center for Prevention, Accompaniment and Treatment of Sexual Transgressive BehaviormajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-initiator of Stop it Now! Vlaanderen alongside UFC.
• Child Focus, Sensoa, Zornet Icuro, CAWminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupporting organizations for Stop it Now! Vlaanderen.
• Platform Forensische Seksuologie (Netherlands)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDutch organizations are referred to the Platform Forensische Seksuologie for SSA risk assessment training, as UFC only serves Flemish organizations.
• Departement Welzijn, Volksgezondheid en Gezin (Flemish Department of Welfare, Public Health and Family)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided project funding for the Context Project (starting 2022), which offers support to family members and social environment of sexual offenders.
• NL-ATSA (Dutch Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUFC co-organized the NL-ATSA webinar on Sex and Autism. Minne De Boeck, UFC criminologist, served as former chair of NL-ATSA and sits on its board.
• VUB / Prof. Kasia Uzieblo (Forensische Zorgspecialisten, UGent, VUB)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint research on psychopathy in sexual offenders (SRP-III project) and Stop it Now! prevention research.
• Asster (Sint-Truiden), Sint Lucia (Sint-Niklaas), FIDES-R (Beernem)majorOthersThe three residential facilities in Flanders with inpatient capacity for people with deviant sexual behavior, to which UFC refers patients requiring residential treatment (UFC has no inpatient capacity).

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Stop it Now! UK & Ireland: International sister network of Stop it Now! Vlaanderen (which UFC houses); operates the same confidential helpline model for people concerned about sexual feelings toward minors in the UK and Ireland, providing a benchmark for the prevention program's scale and reach.
• NL-ATSA (Dutch Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers): Professional association co-organizing webinars with UFC on sexual offender treatment (e.g., Sex and Autism); UFC criminologist Minne De Boeck is a former chair and current board member, reflecting peer-level knowledge exchange in the same clinical niche.

Broad incumbents

• Pompestichting: Larger Dutch forensic psychiatric foundation providing inpatient and outpatient treatment for offenders with deviant sexual behavior; operates at greater scale across more regions than UFC and represents a potential regional expansion model.
• De Kijvelanden: Dutch forensic psychiatric center with both inpatient and outpatient capacity for patients with sexual offending behavior; provides comparable forensic psychiatric care as part of a broader portfolio including residential treatment.

Direct peers

• Platform Forensische Seksuologie: Dutch organization to which UFC explicitly refers Dutch-organization clients seeking SSA risk assessment training; provides the same specialized training and consultation services in the Netherlands that UFC provides in Flanders.
• I.T.E.R. Belgian ambulatory treatment center for prevention, accompaniment and treatment of sexual transgressive behavior; explicitly identified in UFC's own materials as a co-initiator of Stop it Now! Vlaanderen and operates the same niche outpatient treatment model in the same region.
• Universitair Forensisch Centrum Nijmegen (UMCN): Netherlands-based university forensic center affiliated with Radboud UMC, providing comparable treatment, research, and risk assessment services for sexual and violent offenders in an academic-medical setting — the closest cross-border structural analog to UFC.

Regional players

• Asster: Belgian (Sint-Truiden) residential facility specifically referenced in UFC's materials as one of the three Flemish inpatient centers to which UFC refers patients requiring residential treatment for deviant sexual behavior.
• Sint Lucia: Belgian (Sint-Niklaas) residential facility referenced alongside Asster and FIDES-R as one of the three Flemish inpatient centers for sexual offenders, completing the inpatient layer that UFC lacks.
• FIDES-R: Belgian (Beernem) residential facility for sexual offenders completing the three-center Flemish inpatient network referenced in UFC's partnership documentation; comparable clinical scope but residential-only.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/universitair-forensisch-centrum-ufc-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Universitair Forensisch Centrum (UFC)