On October 1 last year, the new Juvenile Juvenile Institution (JJI) De Haven was opened for young people aged 12 and over who have to be in detention. A year later, the Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate drew up a report on the status within the walls of De Haven.
They conclude that the staff of the JJI in Veenhuizen clearly makes an effort to contribute to the growth and development of young people, but significant gains can still be made in various areas.
The Inspectorate has made recommendations in particular to improve the pedagogical living environment. For example, the investigation revealed signals that racist comments are being made by the group leaders and teachers of the associated school. The management of De Haven says it is shocked by this and that such statements will not be tolerated. The Inspectorate recommends taking improvement measures in consultation with young people.
Another point that De Haven has to say goodbye to is the rule ‘no jeans = no visitors’. The young people are only allowed to receive visitors if they wear jeans, which, according to the Inspectorate, creates stressful situations. The JJI has introduced this rule due to safety considerations, but the Inspectorate requests that the purpose of these measures be achieved in a different way.
The Inspectorate also asks the management of De Haven to pay attention to the isolation of young people for a longer period of time. In the report they call it not conducive to their development and ask them to be alert to this and take measures to prevent this.
De Haven currently has room for 46 young people. When the Inspectorate visited in March, 24 of these were occupied. The capacity of the youth institutions is being expanded to 64 places, and the Inspectorate sees some dangers in this, because De Haven does not yet have everything in order in terms of basic facilities, such as education.
At the same time, the report shows that due to staff shortages, young people are locked up for longer during the summer holidays, which does not benefit their development. They therefore express the expectation that, despite the expansion, priority will be given to the development of young people.
The Inspectorate concludes the report by saying that it is confident that De Haven will follow the recommendations. The JJI is further monitored in regular supervision.
JJI De Haven was not yet able to respond substantively to the report.