D66 wants children heard without parents’ consent in abuse cases

Children who show serious signs of abuse would be interviewed quickly, and without their parents’ consent if necessary, under a draft bill published by coalition party D66 on Monday.

The proposal, by MPs Marijke Synhaeve and Hanneke van der Werf, has been put online so organisations can respond before it goes to parliament, broadcaster NOS reported. “What we want,” Synhaeve said, “is for children to be better heard, seen and helped.”

Currently, care workers can normally only contact a child if the parents or guardians agree. Exceptions are possible under strict conditions, but they are complicated and rarely used. Recent serious abuse cases have led leaders to consider altering policies.

Under what the MPs call the “child first act”, a specialist team would have to hear the child within 48 hours when there are signs of a criminal offence.

The team would include medical, youth care, safety and justice experts, and would draw up a plan covering protection, support and, if needed, prosecution.

The approach is based on the Barnahus model, Icelandic for “children’s house”, which is already used in many other countries.

Missed signals
D66 first announced the plan in June, citing two cases in which children’s calls for help went unanswered. The foster parents of a 10-year-old girl in Vlaardingen were jailed for 8 years last November for abuse that left her permanently disabled.

Government inspectors found that the girl had made several efforts to get help but was ignored.

In May, two women in the Groningen town of Stadskanaal were arrested on suspicion of severely abusing a 6-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy. In both cases, signals from the children or people around them were not properly followed up, NOS said.

A majority of MPs backed similar ideas during a recent debate on domestic violence, news agency ANP reported in June. Far-right JA21 MP Ingrid Coenradie also put forward the same idea in that debate.

Synhaeve said she does not expect the bill to create a lot of extra work or lead to more children being taken into care. She said it would instead improve cooperation between agencies.