COA prices are based on historical actual costs of COA and Nidos minus the costs for own buildings and administrative costs and are indexed annually. After 2 to 4 years, the costs are calibrated to better fit with actual costs and agreed upon by both ministries. <br />Risk sharing and ‘Vacancies within the order’<br />To be able to cope with the variable influx of asylum seekers each year, the ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ministry of Justice and Safety have set up a risk-sharing system which includes a mechanism which attributes costs to ODA that cannot be linked to services provided to asylum seekers. This system increases the stability of the process and aims to provide housing and services to asylum seekers in a cost-effective manner.<br />In year T-1 the ministry of Justice and Safety places an ‘order’ with COA and Nidos for an X amount of beds (i.e. the amount of asylum seekers COA and Nidos need to house in a specific year, specified per month). COA and Nidos, as well as other partner organizations that have a part in the migration process, use these orders to plan ahead and, if need be, expand or contract their capacity. This ‘order’ is based on forecasts made in the Meerjaren productie prognose, (or MPP) which wields statistical methods and expert opinion to come to a realistic forecast. There are two types of risks when placing such an order, namely price risks and volume risks:<br />1- Price risks are related to the possibility that the realized costs per asylum seeker are higher or lower than the price than the ODA-price per asylum seeker that was agreed upon. This risk, both if prices are higher or lower than was agreed upon, is carried by the department of Justice and Safety. In other words: the ODA-price stays fixed and is only adjusted for inflation.<br />2- Volume risks relate to costs that are made when COA and Nidos have to increase or decrease their capacity during the year to respond to a higher or lower influx of asylum seekers (i.e. the amount of ‘beds’ needs to be adjusted). Here, the risks are shared between the ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ministry of Justice and Safety. When the occupation of the facilities is higher than the order (i.e. COA/Nidos need to increase capacity), all costs above the order are born proportionally both by ministry of Justice and Security (non-ODA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ODA). When the occupation of the facilities is lower than the order (i.e. COA/Nidos have too much capacity) the costs for the excess amount of beds (the ‘vacancies within the order’) are borne by the ministry of Foreign Affairs. The costs for the overcapacity are attributed to ODA but at a reduced price per bed as the cost of a vacant bed are lower than that of occupied ones.