An increasing number of Dutch children grow up in poverty, according to Defense for Children's report Kinderen in tel 2016. But at the same time, the organization did note a decline in school dropouts and juvenile delinquency, NOS reports.
child welfare
Feb 14 '17 07:36
Jan 3 '17 16:15
A 9-year-old child threatened store personnel in Eindhoven with a knife after he was caught shoplifting. The store employees stopped the boy before he could leave the Action store and tried to take him to the office. He pulled a knife and started waving it about, ANP reports.
The employees managed to take the knife from the boy. The 9-year-old grabbed a pen and again tried to stab the employees. When the employees took the pen from him, he started screaming.
Dec 30 '16 14:33
Child protection caregivers increasingly face aggression and intimidation from parents of families they work with. In some cases the attacks get so severe that the caregivers find that they can no longer do their jobs, NOS reports.
A total of 21 thousand children in the Netherlands are under the supervision of child protection agencies. Two thirds of these kids were taken from their homes and laced in care. Child protection workers are regularly harassed by parents who are angry about their involvement in their lives.
Dec 16 '16 12:40
On Thursday night a drunk woman crashed her car into a tree on Nieuwstraat in Sint-Michelsgestel. She had two 9-year-old kids in the car with her, Omroep Brabant reports.
When given a breathalyzer, the woman blew 1605 ugl. That's equal to between 10 to 13 glasses of alcohol.
The children in the car were the woman's daughter and an acquaintance's son. According to the police, the kids sustained injuries to their faces and were "properly panicked".
The woman's license was confiscated and the incident was reported to youth welfare organizations.
Nov 8 '16 08:50
More children and young people were admitted to secure youth institutions in the Netherlands this year, according to Children's Ombudsman Margrite Kalverboer based on her own research. She also found an increase in the number of emergency admissions, which mostly involve advanced problems, NOS reports.
Oct 11 '16 08:58
Children's rights organizations Save the Children and Defense for Children are calling on the Dutch government to do more to fight poverty among hundreds of thousands of kids in the Netherlands
Aug 22 '16 15:40
There was a significant increase in the number of complaints regarding youth care in the Netherlands during the first half of this year, according to the advice and complaint office for youth care AKJ. In the first half of 2016 there were 6,465 complaints, compared to a total of 7,404 throughout all of 2015
May 30 '16 09:52
GroenLinks parliamentarian Naima Azough was appointed the Netherlands' new special rapporteur on religious extremism. Up until the end of the year, her job will be to identify what works and what doesn't in the fight against radicalization and extremism in the Netherlands
May 17 '16 12:02
The government is launching a full investigation into physical abuse of children who were removed from their homes by child welfare. The investigation, launched based on the advice of the De Winter committee, will span from 1945 until present.
Apr 29 '16 07:29
More than 356 thousand kids received some form of help from child welfare last year. That is 10 percent of all kids in the Netherlands, according to Statistics Netherlands on Friday. This help ranged from counseling for kids with mental health problems to educational guidance for kids with learning disabilities.
Apr 28 '16 11:22
Intermetzo, one of the largest child welfare institutions in the Netherlands, is facing bankruptcy. The company is suffering from municipalities paying their bills late, NRC reports based on anonymous sources.
Mar 3 '16 14:35
The reorganization of child welfare and youth care had no positive effects. On the contrary, waiting lists get longer and longer and there is less staff, while the number of violence reports increase. It regularly happens that a child ends up on a waiting list and sometimes have to wait months for help, while the abuse continues, according to the Youth Care Inspectorate
Feb 17 '15 08:02
More than half of all households (56 percent) made use of at least one social benefit in 2012. This is according to research done by Statistic Netherlands, commissioned by the Quality Institute Dutch Municipalities.
Feb 6 '15 12:55
The inspectorates of Youth Care (Jeugdzorg) and the Ministry of Security and Justice has put the Youth Welfare Office Noord-Brabant under increased supervision, the Inspectorate Safety and Justice announced on its website.
Dec 22 '14 08:40
Rotterdam is the first city to hire a Municipal Children's Ombudsman, in addition to the National Children's Ombudsman. From January 1st, Anne Mieke Zwaneveld will be standing up for the rights of children. She is already the Municipal Ombudsman of Rotterdam.
Aug 29 '14 08:28
Many municipalities in The Netherlands do not seem ready to take over youth care, or child welfare, tasks from the government next year, under the new municipal tasks reorganization. According to a letter to Parliament from State Secretaries Martin van Rijn (Health, Welfare and Sport) and Fred Teeven (Security and Justice), the Cabinet will examine these municipalities.
