According to the inspections, the youth care for the abused foster girl in Vlaardingen was insufficient. But the fault does not lie with the William Schrikker foundation involved, which will therefore not receive a penalty. However, the foundation must draw up an improvement plan.
According to the responsible inspections, young people and their parents “do not receive the protection, guidance and help they need in time”. The foundation also has too little insight into the safety and development of young people. Moreover, it is not possible to arrange the right help in time.
The Health and Youth Inspectorate (IGJ) and the Justice and Security Inspectorate (JIV) investigated the care foundation after the abuse of a ten-year-old foster girl in Vlaardingen. The foundation was involved in her care process. The girl ended up seriously injured in a hospital last year after being severely abused by her foster parents.
William Schrikker guides approximately eight thousand young people in the Netherlands. This makes the foundation the largest institution for youth protection and juvenile rehabilitation.
The foundation’s poor care has a negative impact on young people and their family members. But the causes of this lie outside the influence of the foundation, the inspections judge.
Deficient coordination with municipalities
The coordination of the foundation with other parties involved, such as municipalities, is also insufficient. The inspections outline that civil servants too often obstruct when aid workers believe that a young person needs a certain form of assistance. As a result, the foundation “too often” cannot deploy help.
Since the causes lie outside the foundation, a measure is not effective in improving care, according to the inspections. However, the inspections expect the foundation to come up with an improvement plan within eight weeks to solve the problems in the assistance.
William Schrikker says he recognizes the conclusions and is already working on an improvement plan. The foundation also reports that it deeply regrets the abuse of the girl. “The indescribable suffering she had to endure should never have happened to her. It is therefore important that the inspections have conducted an in-depth investigation into what happened.”
Earlier, the inspections already ruled that the girl’s assistance had fallen seriously short. The biological mother of the girl has therefore held the William Schrikker foundation and foster care organization Enver liable, it was announced on Monday.