Authorities in West Flanders and the juvenile court in Ypres are deeply concerned about the lack of emergency accommodation for vulnerable minors.
On Wednesday, the carer of a 12-year-old girl, who was at her wits’ end, turned to the police for help, narrowly avoiding the child having to spend the night in a cell. The girl had been thrown out of her home by her mother several weeks ago.
The juvenile court in Ypres is overseeing her case, collaborating with social services to find suitable care, but the search has been extremely challenging. On Wednesday, feeling desperate, the carer and the girl went to the police station, where the only option was a bed in a juvenile cell.
“This is obviously not an option for a 12-year-old who has already faced multiple rejections,” the public prosecutor’s office said. For weeks, the girl has been registered daily at the crisis hotline, hoping for a spot in a youth facility.
She has managed to find temporary accommodation for a few days at different facilities, but each time they exceed their capacity.
“This case is not isolated,” said West Flanders King's Prosecutor Filiep Jodts.
Prosecutors’ offices and juvenile courts encounter, on a daily basis, the harsh reality that the crisis hotline cannot provide solutions for minors who cannot return home, Jodts said, adding that minors increasingly have to be housed in unsuitable locations such as hospitals or police cells.
However, neither a hospital setting nor a police cell offers the stability and protection a child needs during a crisis.
On the contrary, they only exacerbate the harm, Jodts said.
