At the Hoenderloo site, where vulnerable young people are cared for, youth care workers appeared to be ‘under the influence’ or even known to the justice system

It is not the first time that youth care institutions have been reprimanded by the Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate. “Too many young people do not receive protection, guidance and help, too late, or insufficiently. This remains unacceptable and must be improved,” was the conclusion more than six months ago after thorough research. But a report published on Monday describes a new low; On a large site in Hoenderloo, Gelderland, on the Veluwe near Apeldoorn, there is a lot wrong with helping young people with often complex problems.

For example, with some youth care employees; they were “under the influence of narcotics” during a police check on the so-called Hoenderloo site. Six employees turned out to be known to the judiciary, “some because of trafficking in narcotics.”

The ‘Hoenderloo site’, where the inspectorate last summer investigated the various youth care providers active there, is remote from civilization and is populated by “a mix of young people and adults” with various problems – from intellectual disabilities to serious behavioral problems or drug addiction. Migrant workers also live on the site and various companies and organizations are located there. Because of this “summation”, the Inspectorate sees “potentially major risks” for the safety of the 111 young people who lived there at the time of the inspections.

There is “substance use, threats, violence, nighttime activities and vandalism” on the site. “Several young people have indicated that they feel unsafe on the site,” the report said. The youth institutions themselves note “a greater temptation to use substances due to the combination of target groups in the field.”

Appropriate help for complex problems

The vast majority of young people receiving youth care in Hoenderloo do not come from the immediate area. They have been placed here from all corners of the Netherlands because there is room on the Veluwe, “but not because it is the most suitable place,” according to a spokesperson for the inspectorate. Municipalities often fail to provide appropriate help to young people with complex problems, due to a lack of money, staff shortages and waiting lists in mental health care for young people. So they refer the young people to ‘Hoenderloo’. “And providers are responding to this,” the spokesperson explains.

Young people and adults were sent to the Veluwe from 83 different municipalities. While one of the conditions for successful youth care is that this help for young people is in an institution close to their own home. This way family can visit them; there is more consultation between the referrer and youth care providers and control over quality and young people can continue to go to their own school or association. The physical distance to Hoenderloo “makes this difficult”, according to the inspectorate.

Two years ago, the inspection pointed out the lack of alternative help for young people in the Netherlands who were previously treated in a closed institution. They receive no or insufficient specialist help, youth care workers are often insufficiently skilled and work in locations with groups that are too large and unsuitable homes. Young people also do not receive sufficient education or daytime activities and many institutions use freedom-restricting measures, while this is precisely not permitted. The situation at Hoenderloo is not surprising in that respect. “In Hoenderloo we see the consequences of the current national structure. It all comes together in such an area,” said a spokesperson.

Insufficient education or daytime activities

The list of defects found on the site is long. Not all employees have the correct papers; a proper analysis of reported incidents is regularly lacking; Complaints regulations and internal contradictions are often inadequate and after crisis care it is often unclear for a long time what help the young person should receive. Nine out of ten youth institutions examined in Hoenderloo work with, for example, camera surveillance, door detectors, locks on doors, room checks and fixed room times, all of this “while this is not permitted”.

Some children of compulsory school age receive little or no education; There is also insufficient daytime activities and that “increases the risk of negative group formation and incidents of boredom.” In addition to the remote location, the “negative image of the Hoenderloo site” also stands in the way of finding school and daytime activities.

The findings are once again a reason for the Inspectorate to call on the government and municipalities to exercise “strong control”, especially with vulnerable young people who need intensive help but who, due to a lack of help in their own region, end up in institutions of insufficient quality. “Dare to tackle the problems with strong leadership,” the report concludes. A spokesperson for the inspectorate: “We keep saying it. More is needed than just our supervision. We keep beating the drum.”

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