Samenwerking tussen Veilig Thuis en de gemeenten in Zuid-Limburg: Hiaten in de aanpak van kindermishandeling

Since January 2015, Safe Home [in Dutch: Veilig Thuis] is the national report center for child abuse and domestic violence. The task of Safe Home and its partner organizations is to stop child abuse and domestic violence. The Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model states that to reduce the chance for harmful behaviors in the future, relevant risk factors should be addressed in individual cases. Offered treatment programs should also be attuned to these risk factors (which is known as risk-based care). The offered risk-based care does not always correspond to the request of the family in question.

In the current study the main question was how it is determined which treatment program or care is offered by the municipalities to families after the investigation of Safe Home is completed and a case is transferred to the local municipality. We interviewed professionals from six municipalities in the region of South-Limburg about the use of structured risk assessment tools and the effectiveness of offered treatment programs. We found that the choice for certain treatment programs is mainly based on the family’s request (and not risk-based, as suggested by the RNR-model). Moreover, the municipalities make limited use of risk assessment tools that meet scientific standards. In order to stop child abuse in the long term, a radical change is needed in the approach of child abuse cases. We offer several recommendations, including the use of scientifically validated risk assessment tools and a closer cooperation and exchange of information between Safe Home and its partner organizations.