Evaluation of the guardianship method

Guardianship is the authority exercised over a minor by someone else than the minor’s parents. In most cases guardianship is the result of a termination of parental authority measure. In such cases guardianship is transferred to a certified institution. Since 2012, the guardianship method is used within the institutions. Commissioned by the Research and Documentation Centre (WODC) of the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice, Regioplan carried out the evaluation of the guardianship method. The aim was to investigate (1) the extent to which people work according to the guardianship method, (2) the extent to which the intended results are achieved and (3) the experiences of the various parties involved in the guardianship method. To conclude (4), it has been investigated how the development of the number of children under guardianship and the number of guardianship transfers should be interpreted.

The full text of the study is only available in Dutch. However, the summary is also available in English (see below).