NOS News•today, 06:03
The House of Representatives must conduct a short parliamentary inquiry into abuses in closed youth care in the period from 2008 to the present. GroenLinks-PvdA and NSC advocate this. They want to know why no action was taken for so long, even though it was already clear that the system was failing. “It is time for politicians to be held accountable.”
Today the House is debating with outgoing State Secretary Van Ooijen (VWS) about closed youth care. The two parties hope to find a majority there for a ‘brief parliamentary inquiry’. This takes less time than a normal investigation, but the witnesses are heard under oath.
In closed youth care, young people with problems are treated intensively and their freedom is very limited. In recent years it has become apparent that many young people feel unsafe there. There is sometimes violence and repression, they do not receive the right help and little to no education. Young people often emerge traumatized.
Alarm bell
Various agencies, MPs and parents have sounded the alarm, but little or no action has been taken, the parties say. Earlier this month, the inspectorate ruled that the care is inadequate. This was also evident from the documentary that expert Jason made about the abuses.
GroenLinks-PvdA and NSC want to hear from young people, employees, the inspectorate and politicians during a survey. “It is terrible to still have to see that we lock up young people who need help in institutions where they suffer physical and emotional damage,” says MP Faith Bruyning of NSC. “This really has to stop.”
Lisa Westerveld of GroenLinks-PvdA finds it “downright disappointing that there are still few concrete improvements after the many signals”. “The fact that this concerns young people in a very vulnerable situation, who actually need protection from the government, means that I believe that the House should take more responsibility in this.”
The number of young people in closed youth care is decreasing, but according to figures from the Youth Authority there are still around 480. The government aims to have no new admissions to closed youth care by 2030.
