Overview
- The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate issued the formal order to close the Vleuten and Waalre ExpertCare villas by July 1 after concluding care there was not safe, and the inspectorate has not publicly detailed the specific failings.
- The clients' council had launched a court action to stop closures until all residents had new placements, and the inspectorate gave its order while that legal case was still pending.
- Minister Mirjam Sterk said she had pressed for solutions and that care offices (zorgkantoren) and insurers are treating affected children as a priority while emergency placement plans are put into effect.
- ExpertCare had already planned to close the sites for financial reasons and many staff left in recent months, a departure that parents and the clients' council say caused roster shortfalls and damaged continuity of 24‑hour specialist care.
- Parents warn dozens of families face immediate disruption with roughly 10–15 children at the two villas still lacking confirmed alternatives, producing exhausted caregivers, loss of respite care and the risk of longer‑term strain on services while courts and authorities sort next steps.