I’ve had a few questions about background checks and qualifications for caregivers and wanted to give a few details.
When we originally met the caregiver in January of 2013, he was staying at a neighbour’s house to share costs, because he was looking to move back to the area after living in other cities and doing some work abroad. In the Netherlands it can take a long time to find housing, especially if you are lower income and have not been on registered waiting lists for a long, long, time. Originally we were only on a friendly basis with the caregiver because my husband enjoyed his company. After about 3-4 months, the caregiver and our neighbour had a disagreement and we let him stay at our house for about a month while he looked for housing.
It was during this time that we signed the first care contract with the caregiver in April of 2013. In many countries it is possible to do a background check when hiring a caregiver, but in the Netherlands it works a little differently. For personal care workers who provide personal care (persoonlijke verzorging) or individual/personal support (individuele begeleiding) there are no statutory registers, even if they are certified carers (verzorgenden). Unless they are certified nurses (verpleegkundigen), which is not needed for my husband’s situation, the only check that we can do with them is to get a certificate of conduct. A certificate of conduct (Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag, VOG) is a document by which the Dutch Minister of Security and Justice declares that the applicant did not commit any criminal offences that are relevant to the performance of his or her duties.
At that time I had asked for a Certificate of Conduct and was told by the caregiver that it was not possible because they were no longer registered in a municipality administration system (GBA). I contacted the municipality where the caregiver last lived, and they also confirmed it was not possible because they were not in the administration system. I also found a document from the municipality that listed the caregiver as no longer being in the municipality administration system, so in that way, the story checked out.
The caregiver was hired for individual/personal support (individuele begeleiding). Other than needing to follow instructions that were given and know how to provide care in an emergency situation, he was not in need of other qualifications. He also had a daughter who was disabled and used a wheelchair and had done volunteer work with people at a physical rehabilitation center, and therefore had experience with care.
These things checked-out but I was not able to get personal references because the daughter had passed away and the rehabilitation center did not keep records about volunteers. I questioned him enough to know that what he was saying was accurate based on information I could find, others had told me when I asked around, or I had experience of at the rehabilitation center.
For the first 5 months he only helped with a few hours of occasional personal support and when I was away for work, which was 3 days in total. He was provided with full instructions and when i away we had the primary caregiver for personal care (ADL assistance), to oversee things, and be on call in case of an emergency.
It was not until I had taken a trip to visit family in late August of 2013 that he stayed with my husband for 2 weeks, that we had any real concerns. Again, he was provided with full instructions and we had the primary caregiver and other caregivers for personal care, to oversee things, and be on call in case of an emergency. He was hired to be with my husband if he needed assistance, to help with shopping and cooking meals and to do minor housekeeping.
The issues we had with him were that he threatened to leave my husband alone, used money that was supposed to be for my husband to buy himself a lot of food/wine, tried to manipulate my husband into doing things that he wanted to do, and was overall very slovenly and did not clean-up after meals or keep the house tidy. We decided not use his services if I was away again, and did not have any contact with him for a few months.
In late 2013 my husband decided he wanted to do singing and painting with the caregiver for about 2 hours a week. Again he was hired for individual/personal support (individuele begeleiding). Other than needing to follow instructions that were given and know how to provide care in an emergency situation, he was not in need of other qualifications. We hire based on experience and the specific tasks they are helping with. The caregiver’s tasks were practical help with painting, opening and mixing paints, cleaning-up, etc., support for arts-related activities such as visits to workshops, and provide care as needed in an emergency. He also occasionally would do singing with my husband, or do cooking with him, which were both good therapy for him. The caregiver was a painter, singer, and cook, which along with following instructions, they were the primary qualifications for the job.
At that time we signed another care contract with the caregiver. I asked again for a Certificate of Conduct along with a tax declaration form proving he was a freelancer so that we could not be held liable for taxes. Because he was registered at the chamber of commerce (KvK), thus proving his tax status, I did not really push on the tax declaration. Because he only worked limited hours and I was always present, I also did not push on the Certificate of Conduct.
Nevertheless, I did ask for these documents, and was continually put off by the caregiver after repeated attempts, which is about the same time that he started to be very difficult for me to work with. By this time there should have been no reason not to provide what was asked, because the caregiver had since registered in another municipality, and was thus registered in the municipality administration system.
My husband still liked to work with the caregiver even though the caregiver was becoming increasingly difficult for me to work with as the person who needs to train, schedule, and administer his care. Whenever we would have discussions about this the caregiver would threaten to quit, and upset my husband badly. In many way, I felt I had not choice but to either totally go against my husband’s wishes, which I have no legal right to do, or deal with a difficult caregiver who my husband liked and trusted.
It was not until the day that they decided to go to the “workshop”, the day that everything happened in September 2014, that I really wish I had pushed more for the Certificate of Conduct. Unfortunately, even if we would have had it, I don’t think it would have changed anything.The Certificate of Conduct only lists criminal offences that are relevant to the performance of his or her duties and there needs to have been a conviction. From what I have learned about possible other illegal activities that may be on record, I “think” that only one of them was prosecuted for a domestic situation, and therefore I don’t think it would have been reason not to provide the Certificate of Conduct. .
Something needs to change with the system so that individuals hiring caregivers are able to find out if a caregiver is a potential risk. It needs to be a simple registration for both a background check and tax status, that is not onerous for the caregiver or the person hiring them (this is especially important for those who work limited hours). The current system is not supporting that, though I have heard that some sort of register may be coming out soon. Unfortunately, that is too late for what happened to my husband and also our dogs.
Note: In 2014 the municipality administration system (GBA) was replaced by the Municipal Personal Records Database (BRP). It is now possible to receive a Certificate of Conduct even if the applicant is not registered in the Municipal Personal Records Database.
