Safety concerns about 1,300 childcare centers, after school facilities

The supervising GGDs have serious concerns about nearly 1,300 of the over 15,000 daycare centers and after-school facilities in the Netherlands, AD reported. The newspaper investigated various recent incidents, including two in which children died.

In Arnhem, a baby died at De Toverburcht on March 10 from “a medical incident” that later turned out to be sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), more commonly referred to as cot death. A 2-year-old drowned in a 30 centimeters deep ditch at ‘t Kraaltje daycare in Huizen on April 3. And on April 18, a trauma helicopter rushed a toddler to the UMC Groningen after the child fell into the water at De Vlieger childcare center in Zwolle.

There were also countless other incidents this year that did not end so tragically. In February, for example, a 3-year-old ran away from Happy Kids in Weert. A local spotted him and took him back. Childcare and parent interest groups primarily blame staff shortages in the sector for the issues.

Since 2012, every daycare center or after-school care facility has been assigned a color code after a GGD inspection - green, yellow, orange, or red. Green means few or no concerns, and red means serious concerns. The GGDs use the color code to determine the frequency and intensity of inspections.

Figures AD received from the GGDs showed that the health services have serious concerns about 1,292 of the 15,315 childcare locations in the Netherlands. These have an orange or red risk profile.

There are significant differences per region. In Flevoland, almost a third of the 608 childcare centers have a red or orange code. In the Gooi en Vecht region, that’s over 20 percent, and in Zuid-Holland-Zuid, nearly 15 percent. On the other hand, Gelderland-Midden, Brabant-West, and Haaglanden have hardly any orange or red childcare locations.

The umbrella organization GGD GHOR Nederland told AD that locations with a red or orange code aren’t automatically poor quality. “There may indeed be a greater risk of accidents due to staff shortages, but the risk profiles do not indicate one-to-one that there is something wrong with safety.” According to the regulator, inspectors use color codes as a planning system, and the profiles are not intended as a judgment. “Sometimes, an inspector wants more time for a location. The colors then indicate the time investment.”

The interest group for parents in childcare, BOinK, called the GGD GHOR Nederland explanation nonsense. “The risk profiles are based on hard facts, namely the inspection reports over several years,” said chairman Gjalt Jellesma. “The number of known incidents is the tip of the iceberg. We have received more reports of dangerous situations from parents and employees for some time now. We have been warning about this for a year.”

Staff shortages and the resulting use of temps are the main problems, according to Jellesma. “Take running away: Kids are real Houdinis. Experienced regular faces know the children and pay particular attention to the boys and girls who try. With more trainees, that comes under pressure.”