Support team for parents affected by the child benefits affair in Caribbean Netherlands
Parents affected by the child benefits affair in Caribbean Netherlands can soon contact the Belastingdienst Caribisch Nederland (B/CN) for help and support. B/CN will help affected parents in the fields of family, finances, work, income, housing, and healthcare. B/CN will do what is necessary to help affected parents and their families get their life back on track. The special support team is expected to get to work in the second half of May.
Training programme for B/CN employees
Affected parents in the Netherlands can contact the municipality where they live for help and support. Affected parents in Caribbean Netherlands cannot be supported by a municipality in the Netherlands. For this reason, B/CN will introduce a special support team for affected parents in Caribbean Netherlands. Employees of this team will first complete a training programme. The Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) and an employee of the Municipality of Rotterdam will arrange this training programme.
UHT service team calls affected parents to obtain permission for the exchange of data
Many things related to childcare benefits went wrong in the past. The childcare benefits of numerous parents were terminated in error. The Uitvoeringsorganisatie Herstel Toeslagen (UHT) has been working on resolving the mistakes which has affected parents since 2020. UHT needs the personal data of affected parents in Caribbean Netherlands who have not previously registered with the UHT. The UHT may not simply share these data with B/CN. For this reason, the Serviceteam Gedupeerden Kinderopvangtoeslag [Service Team for those Affected by the Childcare Benefits Affair] of the UHT will contact all affected parents in Caribbean Netherlands by phone at the beginning of May.
UHT will subsequently ask whether they may share selected data of the affected parents with B/CN. UHT will use the phone call to explain which data this concerns. The contact details may only be shared with B/CN once the affected parents have given permission. B/CN will contact the affected parents as of mid-May.
Support in five fields
The B/CN support team will offer affected parents broad support in 5 fields (finances, healthcare, housing, work, and family). The affected parent will be in control. The parent can choose to make use of the extensive support. For this reason, the B/CN support team will not contact affected parents who have not given permission for sharing their data. This means that the support team will not be able to help these parents with work or healthcare.
Signing up for rectification
Some affected parents currently living in Caribbean Netherlands have not yet signed up with the UHT. These parents can sign up with the UHT if they meet the following conditions:
- they received childcare benefits when they lived in the Netherlands;
- these childcare benefits were terminated between 2005 and 2019 and the parent does not know why;
- the parent has not yet been in touch with the UHT about this matter.
Does a parent meet these conditions? In this case, the parent can sign up with the UHT. UHT will check whether the parent qualifies for rectification.
Signing up for rectification with the UHT
More information
Benefits rectification – website for affected parents (belastingdienst.nl)