“We have been looking for a place for a vulnerable child for weeks”

• Sophie Feenstra

  interior curator

It is a black code in youth protection and something needs to be done about it today. With that message, the protectors of youth will travel to the House of Representatives today, where the issues will be debated again.

If a child cannot be raised safely at home, the juvenile court may decide to place the child in supervision or guardianship. A young protector then makes a plan and seeks the right help for the family. And if that is no longer possible at home, a suitable place is sought for the child, for example in a foster family or group home.

But due to the acute shortage of juvenile guardians and long waiting lists in youth care, those children are having to wait longer and longer. “There are children who are a danger to themselves, who escape and are found in cellar boxes. But we can’t take those children to a safe place now,” says youth advocate Ilona Simons.

Her colleague Tobias Baruch says this: “I’ve been trying to place a girl somewhere for ten weeks. I’m no longer looking for the most suitable place, but for a place of my own.”

Pressure is mounting on Minister Weerwind (Legal Protection) and Secretary of State Van Ooijen (Public Health) to come up with measures after years of consultation, investigation and reporting. It Floor which they announced earlier this month was met with disappointment. “They all contain excellent plans in themselves, but they are about the future, while something needs to be done right now,” Youth Care Netherlands replied.

Youth Guardians have seen many capable colleagues leave in recent years. “There is a huge staff shortage,” says Ilona Simons. “You can hear it in the debates, but the cabinet isn’t coming with the money to do anything about it.”

Where youth protectors are expected to look after a maximum of eight children or families, in practice there are now often twice as many. “It’s not the case that we as youth protectors are campaigning because we want to make more money. That money is a means to help children better. That’s what matters to us.”

Union FNV Youth Care demands that the cabinet immediately release more money and manpower for the protection of young people. They campaigned for it for seven weeks. “The question is when will the minister finally realize that things are on the boil and that the last youth pimps still keeping the sector afloat have been extinguished,” warns FNV director Maaike van der Aar. “Now a bailout plan needs to be drawn up. And if the minister doesn’t do it, we’ll take steps to reduce the workload ourselves.”

Youth guardians have already suspended on-call services as part of the actions. The number of home visits has also been reduced.

As well as easing the workload for juvenile guardians, the sector also needs to change the system. Since decentralization in 2015, municipalities are responsible for purchasing youth care. But what they buy in many municipalities does not fit well with what is needed in practice. Especially with more specialist help, such as eating disorders or closed youth care.

This is why the call to speed up reform plans is growing stronger. “Now I have to make do with the available offer, but it is increasingly insufficient or there are long waiting lists,” says youth protector Baruch. “This is incredibly frustrating. And then I have to explain that policy to that girl and her parents.”

The committee debate on youth protection starts at 10:00.