Foster parents in Noord-Nederland abused children despite earlier warnings

Children placed in a foster home in Noord-Nederland, supervised by Cornerstones and under the guardianship of the William Schrikker Foundation, suffered years of severe abuse and neglect despite prior warnings, authorities said.

The case came to light when a 9-year-old girl arrived at school with an untreated dog bite. The children later reported being repeatedly struck with fists and open hands, pulled by their ears, and forced to perform “unacceptable child labor” by the foster mother and her partner.

According to AD, the foster home had previously been flagged in June 2021, when a boy newly placed there was found sleeping in a bare room with only a bed and a shelf. His belongings were seized and stored in trash bags. He told an orthopedagogue that this punishment followed stealing candy at night and reported bruised knees from being forced to weed. The orthopedagogue described the situation as “disturbing and unreal."

The Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate did not open an investigation but kept the report on file. The William Schrikker Foundation removed the boy four days later and later withdrew all other children. Cornerstones launched an independent review, saying that professionals “have different opinions on the pedagogical climate, but they agree improvement is needed.”

Despite the 2021 warnings, the foundation placed two more children in the home a year later. They endured abuse for almost three years before it was discovered.

“This story hits very hard. We never want any child to go through this again,” Pim van Uchelen, director of the William Schrikker Foundation, told AD. He said children were placed after the foster parents completed a court-approved improvement program and that staff maintained one-on-one meetings with them. “Over time, we still received signals of violence and removed them. We cannot explain why it lasted three years; we were unaware of the beatings. If we had known, it would have been an immediate reason to remove the children.”