Samenvatting

The Dutch child protection system is at its wits’ end when it concerns improving the quality of their services. Discussions about the problems in child protection overshadow a critical, substantive reflection on what high-quality child protection means, while explicit definitions are crucial to achieve, monitor and evaluate policy objectives. This article evaluates whether current child protection services sufficiently guarantee all aspects of ‘growing up and developing safely’. As such, this study aims to contribute to a more holistic perspective on child well-being in child protection, one that safeguards a child’s physical well-being, mental well-being and its social environment. A meta-study of four child protection evaluations shows that child protection services pay insufficient attention to a child’s basic physical needs and wider social environment. Attention to these well-being aspects is necessary to overcome a one-sided focus on child well-being in child protection and effectively provide child protection services.