Some 1,560 young people were sent to community institutions by juvenile judges in 2021, according to Hilde Crevits, Flemish Minister of Welfare and Family, who was speaking during a visit to the De Grubbe Community Institution in Everberg. This is because they committed or were suspected of committing a crime, or because of serious concerns for their wellbeing.
The total number of youths detained in 2021 increased from the 1,444 detained in 2020. According to the minister, the province of Antwerp has the largest amount of young people with a current juvenile offence file, and the province of Limburg has the least.
De Grubbe, one of three institutional centres in Flanders, is a juvenile delinquency control centre that can accommodate 24 boys for two months at a time.
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In De Grubbe, the detained are barred from roaming freely and are not allowed to leave the premises unless through the permission of a judge. Most institutional centres are meant to be temporary solutions while the juvenile's case is being heard.
Today, a new building and updated policies were introduced at De Grubbe to the general public and local residents. The new building will help to double the capacity of the centre.
"With the introduction of the new Juvenile Delinquency Decree, a lot will change for our community institutions in Flanders. More punitive options will be created for offenders on the one hand and a more secure reception for victims on the other," said Crevits.
With the new law, victims and offenders, or young people suspected of offending will no longer be forced to stay in the same community centre while they wait for their hearings. The law will also expand counselling services for juveniles along with additional support for families and friends with the goal to keep young people out of the detention centres in the first place.
"The reason why young people are placed in a closed institution can be very diverse," says Niels Heselmans, spokesperson for Opgroeien, a child services agency. "But often we see a high degree of repeated serious offences. Whether it's theft, violence or drug offences, young people who end up in a community institution have difficulty getting out of the negative spiral."
A judge does not necessarily have to place the juvenile in a detention centre for an offence; other options can include community service projects, a learning project or reconciliation with the victim.
The decree states that community centres must make these incremental changes starting March 2023.
