5 November 2007

UTRECHT – The youth welfare sector will set up its own disciplinary council for employees from the sector as soon as possible. The sector organisation for youth care, MOgroep, has reported this. An interim disciplinary council will be set up at the beginning of next year.

The sector hopes that a disciplinary council will prevent court cases against employees in the sector, like in the case of the family guardian responsible for toddler Savanna. The organisation confirmed today a report on this in the AD.

"If a disciplinary council had handled the Savanna case and suspended or reprimanded the family guardian, there is a good chance that it would not have ended up as a criminal case," says chairman Hans Lomans in the AD.

The public prosecution department demanded last Thursday that the family guardian be sentenced to 150 hours of community service. The justice department says she is guilty of negligence that led to serious bodily harm to Savanna. The 3-year-old girl from Alphen aan den Rijn died in September 2004 after years of neglect and abuse by her mother and stepfather.

The council must also set up standards for youth care. Lomans: "One of the effects of the disciplinary council is that we will identify what professions we are dealing with in youth care and which competences and skills are required of employees."

"In this way we can develop standards that family guardians must meet. That is even more important in my opinion than preventing criminal prosecutions."

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2007]

Subject: Dutch news