Youth Protection Noord receives its certificate because it again meets the legal standards for youth protection and probation service. That is what the Keurmerkinstituut has Tuesday judged. The organization is still under stricter supervision with the Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate (IGJ).
Since the end of 2024, Jeugdbescherming Noord has been working with a so -called bridging certificate of nine months, partly because the guidance of children was below par or was completely lacking. Also, supervisors often did not make an action plan and parents with complaints could not go anywhere.
The Keurmerk Institute would only return the certificate if Youth Protection Noord had implemented ‘necessary improvement measures’. According to the institution, this is now: more people have been hired, the absenteeism has been reduced and management is better organized, says the institute.
Withdrawal of the certificate does not mean that an organization must stop its work. A certificate works as a quality mark, and shows that the quality and safety of the services that an organization provides meet certain criteria.
‘Vicious circle’
The renewed allocation of the certificate to Jeugdbescherming Noord is striking, because the inspection placed the organization under stricter supervision in July for seven months, which means that it may or may not be announced for checking. The IGJ then stated that there was a “vicious circle” of shortcomings, so that children did not get the necessary help. After the decision of the IGJ, ninety complaints were added to a hotline, especially from (foster) parents.
Sara van den Broek, director of the quality mark Institute, therefore emphasizes that the Youth Protection Institute will continue to monitor Noord. Although she says that the organization “has its quality management well”, she wants to see a “continuation of the improvements.” She also says she understands the worries that still live with the parents involved.
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