The role of the state in child protection in the Netherlands

Introduction For years now, the role of the state in intervening in family life has been a point of discussion in the Netherlands. Public debates on the protection of children and the rights of parents are often based on... [ view full abstract ]

Introduction
For years now, the role of the state in intervening in family life has been a point of discussion in the Netherlands. Public debates on the protection of children and the rights of parents are often based on serious cases of child maltreatment which occurred in the media. Whereas the child protection policy from the 1960s to 1980s was criticised for too early and too much intervening and for using a patronised approach, the policy of the 2000s was criticised as too late and too limited intervening in risky child rearing situations. The right and responsibility of the state to intervene in family life is mainly characterised by finding a balance between children’s rights to protection (article 19 UNCRC) and parental rights in family life (article 8 ECHR). Systems are often classified in terms of the extent to which they have a child protection orientation versus a family support orientation.

Objectives
This presentation aims to address how the state tries to balance these parental and children’s right on intervening in family life under the new Youth Act, which has been in force since 2015.

Method
Based on the literature and the framework developed by Wulczyn and collaborators for analysing child protection systems, a framework for policy analysis was designed for this study. This framework includes the definition of child maltreatment, relevant legislation, values and principles in legislation, policy, and available national statistics. Based on this framework, recent developments in child-protection policy were examined by analysing national legislation and the policy document governing the operation of the Dutch child protection system. In particular, the new Youth Act and its Memorandum were scrutinised in order to examine the values and principles in Dutch law regarding the role of the state in the protection of children.

Results
Many of the values and principles found in Dutch legislation and policy documents arise from the UNCRC; its articles, including governmental responsibilities for child protection, are repeatedly referenced in the Memorandum of the Youth Act. This Memorandum emphasises that all children should be able to grow up healthy and safe, develop their talents, and participate in society according to their abilities. Parents are primarily responsible, but the government is obliged to intervene when these components are not being satisfied. Care relationships are seen as the starting point in such an intervention: State intervention should focus on salvaging and reinforcing the family’s and children’s own strengths. The Dutch child protection policy therefore focuses mainly on prevention and early detection of child rearing problems, with the goal of avoiding the need for expensive specialised care and compulsory child-protection measures; restricting or ending parental authority is seen as a last resort.

Discussion
The emphasis in the Dutch child protection policy is on strengthening the family as a whole and using compulsory child protection measures as a last resort. However, how this should be done exactly, is not described in national legislation; municipalities are responsible to specify this. A study in the practice field handling cases of child maltreatment could give more insight in the actual responses to reports of child maltreatment.