Dutch MP’s want official inquiry into controversial custodial placement of children

Dutch parliament wants the caretaker Cabinet to set up a state commission to conduct a thorough investigation into the state of child removals due to problems within families. The commission would also focus on the use of coercion and pressure by the government in youth care, while also examining the role played by schools, courts, family members, and the broader environment in these situations.

A motion with the request from the ChristenUnie will be supported by the NSC, GroenLinks-PvdA, CDA, SP, D66, and VVD. This became apparent during a debate about the role that youth protection services played in the benefits scandal. Around 3,000 children were taken away from their parents due to mounting problems after they had become victims of the benefits scandal.

Youth care services and the courts paid insufficient attention to the link between the families’ problems and the financial distress they faced as a result of the actions of the Dutch Tax Authority, a previous committee concluded.

The caretaker Cabinet announced this week that they were going to issue a formal apology to children who had been removed from their homes. Parties now want to know what the next steps are in the recovery process, and once again pushed for the Cabinet to accelerate the plans. So far, only a few dozen children have been reunited with their parents.

According to ChristenUnie parliament member Don Ceder, a state commission, that would be working on cases with national importance, is a “highly necessary step, it will also help to repair some of the trust in youth protection.” He added that the parents’ and children’s opinions would have to be factored into this.

The caretaker State Secretary for Legal Protection, Teun Struycken, understands the wish from the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament. He thinks that the request is “in line with the Cabinet’s vision regarding what is needed to improve youth protection.”