More support needed for kids placed out of home and their parents, advocates say

Children who are placed out of home and their parents do not always get the support they need, Defence for Children found in a study. Concerned care employees told the children's rights organization that many out-of-home placements could have been prevented with better care and support, NOS reports.

"An out-of-home placement is a very emotional and impactful event," lawyer Eva Huls, who conducted the study, said to NOS. "Appropriate care and guidance for children and parents are needed to prevent out-of-home placements and reduce the annual number. The Netherlands is failing at this and has to work harder because children are entitled to the best suitable care, and not the least bad alternative."

The researchers spoke to about 100 care professionals. They said that almost half of parents don't receive the proper help and support before and when their child is placed out of their home. One of the problems is long waiting lists in mental healthcare. Another issue is that several organizations are involved in youth protection, and they don't always use the same methods.

"The working method can be very different between institutions," Huls said to the broadcaster. "We need to work more uniformly and look at a family more integrally, instead of each care provider directing their own specialist piece."

According to Huls, various parties submitted many proposals for improvement to the government over the past years, but very little was done with those. "Clarify what is standing in the way of those improvements and remove the obstacles so that we can work on reducing the number of children that are placed out of their homes."

In 2020, about 43,000 children in the Netherlands were not living in their original home situation. The juvenile court removed nearly 19,000 children from their homes in that year.