Investigation Reveals Serious Allegations of Poor Care at Salvation Army Care Farm: No Action Taken

Foster children, their parents and care providers involved have reported poor care since 2021. No action has been taken on these reports, including a personal letter of complaint and a Safe at Home report, according to an investigation the regional broadcaster.

At least two children at the care farm in Wekerom were under the care of the Salvation Army. One of these children still lives full time at the care farm. It is about an 8 year old girl. Nothing seems to have happened with reports of abuse.

The girl has been living at the care farm in Wekerom since 2019. Her mother has been fighting a legal battle for years to remove her daughter from there. But since the woman has no parental authority, this is complicated. The Salvation Army warden decides what happens to the girl. Despite several reports of poor care, the girl has lived in Wekerom for five years.

Documents from 2021 show that the girl was punched in the face after the child spat in the babysitter’s face. The Salvation Army knows about that incident, but they left it there, Omroep Gelderland reports.

A report will be sent to Velig Thuis in 2022. Care professionals from the neighborhood team write in this report, which is in the hands of the broadcaster, that the care of the 8-year-old girl on the farm is not adequate enough. In addition, they confirm that nothing was done about the mother’s complaints. They write that the situation on the farm is uncertain, partly because of the true beliefs of the owner.

According to Peer van der Helm, a lecturer in Residential Youth Care at the Leiden University of Applied Sciences, it is very likely that the Salvation Army was contacted about this report. According to former lawyer Petra Smit, who represented his mother for years, no action was taken. “You should at least investigate further. It wasn’t done, it’s insulting.”

Van der Helm: “If there is a strong suspicion of child abuse, you as an organization have no choice. You always have to investigate.”

In August 2022, the Salvation Army’s independent complaints committee received a letter from a 15-year-old boy who was currently living at the care farm. He writes that he does not have freedom of religion, that his phone is being traced, that his messages are being monitored and that he is not allowed to meet friends. He ends the letter with: “I would like to go somewhere else better.”

His guardian from the Salvation Army knows about his condition and the complaints that have been made and calls them “bad”, but the Salvation Army is not treating him ‘ complained more. The boy runs away from the care farm a month later and wants a new place. He gets that too.

The fact that the 8-year-old girl is the only one who still lives in Wekerom is inappropriate for her mother. “I’ve been standing on the sidelines for five years watching what’s happening there. I sat with my hands behind my back. It’s terrible. My heart just breaks.”

The Salvation Army Youth Protection & Probation Foundation (LJ&R) did not respond to questions from Omroep Gelderland and NOS. “We cannot and will not provide a substantive response to your case-related questions,” said the spokesperson. The owner of the care farm also declined to comment.