Foundation involved in abuse of Vlaardingen girl escapes punishment from Inspectorates

The William Schrikker Stichting has to ensure that young people are given better support after they have been placed in youth protection as this care is currently not at the quality required, the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) and the Inspectorate of Justice and Security (IJV) have said. They do not blame the foundation for this, but rather the staff shortages at the municipalities and in the sector. For this reason, the institution will not be cautioned for underperformance.

The foundation was involved in the care of the then 10-year-old foster girl in Vlaardingen. She ended up in the hospital last year with serious injuries after being severely abused by her foster parents.

The inspectorates had previously found that the care provided to the girl "was inadequate for a long time and frequently.” The foundation was already under intensified supervision due to this, as was the foster care organization Enver. Last month, it was ordered to improve the care it provides within the next nine months. It was reported yesterday that the girl's mother is holding the foundation liable.

According to the inspectorates, young people and their parents are not given “timely protection, guidance, and the help that they need.” Furthermore, the foundation has an “insufficient overview on the development and safety” of the young people and sometimes also fails to arrange the right help for the people in time.

The IGJ and IJV do not feel that the foundation will be able to fix these issues in time. They added that the problems are not due to the foundation. When the care providers find that a child needs a certain form of help, civil servants get in the way by "reconsidering" the aid. As a result, the foundation "too often cannot use the means available.”

The William Schrikker Stichting recognizes the conclusions from the inspectorates and has said to be already working on improving this. The organization spoke once more about the case of the girl from Vlaardingen: “The indescribable suffering that she had to go through should have never happened to her, and we deeply regret it. That is why it is important that the inspectorates have conducted in-depth research into what happened."

The foundation is responsible for the care of around 8,000 young people, which makes it the biggest institution for youth protection and juvenile rehabilitation in the Netherlands.