Safety of kids on child protection waiting lists at risk, Inspectorates say

The Dutch child care and protection board RvdK has insufficient insight into the safety of children who are waiting for an investigation, the Inspectorates for Justice and Security and for Healthcare and Youth said. At the end of January almost 2,800 children were on the RvdK's waiting list for an average of 30 days, while the standard is 10 days, NU.nl reports.

The RvdK intervenes in situations where a threat to a child seems acute. The board then takes measures to put the child in a safe situation.

In November the Inspectorates already warned that children's safety are seriously at risk due to long waiting lists. The measures previously taken to improve the supervision on child safety were now tested by the Inspectorates in practice. They concluded that these measures do not sufficiently limit the risks.

The Inspectorates now want the RvdK to make agreements with regional partners in the youth protection chain about each child that is on the waiting list, in order to put these children in a safe situation. The RvdK must also submit a progress report to the inspectorates every four months in which the board details the measures taken to shorten its waiting list.

"The Inspectorates want everything to be done to prevent children from falling victim to the risky situation they are in", the Inspectorates said