Two weeks old was the youngest child when a juvenile nurse deemed that mother should cut off all contact with father. Mother was no longer allowed to open the door for father. Should she do so, the children could possibly be placed out of the home.
Acting incorrectly
That a youth nurse has no legal authority at all to determine that there should be no contact and that she can only give advice that can be followed voluntarily was not told to mother or to father. Nor was father told what rights he had. Nor were father's parents involved. This while they gave a lot of support to the family. Mother (and therefore the children) were not allowed to have contact with them either.
Vader voelde zich niet opgewassen tegen het onjuiste beeld dat bij de jeugdverpleegkundige over hem was ontstaan. Hij was letterlijk ziek van verdriet omdat hij zijn kinderen en zijn partner niet mocht zien. Vader verviel hierdoor in drugsgebruik waar hij al lange tijd niet meer gebruikte. Nog geen twee weken nadat de omgang met zijn kinderen was beperkt, stierf hij aan de gevolgen van een overdosis.
Disciplinary complaint against juvenile nurse
Father's family asked me to assist them in filing a disciplinary complaint to the youth nurse.
By invoking art. 67 paragraph 3 of the BIG Act, access was obtained to the medical records. This article regulates that certain documents are not shared with the complainant but only with the lawyer. The medical files showed that the youth nurse had taken a lot of (medical) information about father, for which father had not given permission at all. But more importantly, much of the information was incorrect. The youth nurse had not verified the information with father before including it in reports. Hearsay had not been applied.
In de procedure werd door de jeugdverpleegkundige aangegeven dat het niet haar taak is om aan waarheidsvinding te doen en dat zij niet hoeft na te gaan bij de betreffende ouder of hetgeen over hem verteld is juist is. Dat had zij wel moeten doen. In art. 3.3 van de Jeugdwet is bepaald dat in rapportages de van belang zijnde feiten volledig en naar waarheid aangevoerd moeten worden. Met die bepaling wordt beoogd dat latere besluitvorming – bijvoorbeeld als een rechter over een uithuisplaatsing van een kind moet beslissen – op juiste informatie wordt gebaseerd. Wanneer in verslagen onjuiste informatie is opgenomen, dan heeft dat in de verdere keten grote gevolgen.
Judgment of Central Disciplinary Tribunal
Following the Regional Disciplinary Tribunal ruled the Central Disciplinary Tribunal:
- That the juvenile nurse had improperly imposed a restraining order on father;
- that the juvenile nurse had improperly used medical treatment information about father (for which consent was lacking);
- that the juvenile nurse had improperly denied father an opportunity to present his views;
- dat de jeugdverpleegkundige ten onrechte vader niet geïnformeerd had; en
- That the juvenile nurse erred in failing to verify that father was being offered assistance.
The appeal also found that the juvenile nurse had improperly failed to involve the family network.
A reprimand was imposed on the juvenile nurse.
There is still much room for improvement in youth care. Newsweek paid attention some time ago to the gray area that has emerged in youth care, where far-reaching measures are imposed on families that are legally voluntary but are perceived by parents as forced. The Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles called for new policies to make clearer what rights and obligations parents have.
Father's parents hope with the disciplinary proceedings they initiated that the juvenile nurse but also others will learn from the case.
Een stap in de goede richting is in ieder geval wanneer ouders goed geïnformeerd worden over hun rechten, hoor en wederhoor wordt toegepast, medische informatie zonder toestemming niet zomaar wordt gebruikt en het steunend familienetwerk wordt betrokken. Als dat in dit gezin op een juiste manier was toegepast dan denk ik niet dat het tot een tuchtklacht had hoeven te komen.
Amsterdam, Feb. 15, 2022
If you have questions about this blog, please contact the author, Mildred Brun.