A new and successful method for recognizing child abuse and neglect is detecting child maltreatment based on parental characteristics: the 'child check'.

Injured parents in need of medical help at an emergency department (ED) who are the victim of domestic violence, who have problems with substance abuse or severe psychological problems have a high risk of being unable to provide their children with the basic needs for a happy childhood. These parents need help from the community to succeed in this goal. The ED is a unique location for identifying these parents and referring them to an organization that can offer both parents and their children the support they need.

The Hague Protocol describes how professionals at an adult ED can detect child abuse based on parental characteristics. The positive predictive value of a scientific study (2008-2011) based on more than 550 cases was 0.91. In 91% of all cases, child maltreatment was confirmed by 'Veilig Thuis' (the advice and reporting centre for domestic violence and child abuse) after investigation, based solely on the parental characteristics.

Click here for The Hague Protocol by Hester Diderich - Lolkes de Beer

Child check

The Child Check is based on the so-called The Hague Protocol. Read more

Child check articles

Various articles on the results and implementation of this protocol. Read more

Child check training

Online courses to support the implementation of the Childcheck. Read more