Guardianship Council (DVR)
The Guardianship Council is the child protection agency in Aruba and falls under the Ministry of Justice. Our primary task is to protect minors in order to promote their development into adulthood.
The Guardianship Council is legally authorized to take child protective measures to protect the minor.
The Guardianship Council defends the rights of the child whose development and education are threatened. To this end, the risks and protective factors present in the family are investigated, focusing on the interests of the child. In this way, the Guardianship Council can determine whether a child protective measure is necessary to guarantee the safety and development of the minor. The investigation takes place within a multidisciplinary framework, investigating the immediate circle of the minor, such as agencies and schools. If the investigation shows that the fundamental rights of the child are in danger, the Guardianship Council will take the necessary steps to protect the minor. The protection is both of a social and of a financial nature.
Forms of protection:
- Obtaining a placement order
- A provisional family supervision order
- A family supervision order
- Compulsory relief of guardianship
- Removal of parental authority
According to the law, the Guardianship Council is the advisory body of the Court in cases involving minors. It concerns cases for changing guardianship, adoption cases, paternity cases, etc.
Purpose of the organization
"To guarantee and protect the fundamental right of the minor to a healthy and balanced development into independence."
Services/Activities
- To provide information to the public through the social assistant and financial assistant;
- To conduct investigations in case of suspicion of child abuse, molestation and neglect;
- Crisis intervention in case of an acute threat to the development of a minor;
- To ensure that, if it is urgent and immediately necessary, the relevant child protection order is obtained to prevent moral, physical and spiritual downfall.
- To take care of a minor who has been entrusted to the Guardianship Council by the Court or the Public Prosecution Service based on a statutory provision.
- To have a hearing representative advice the Court, both when asked and on its own initiative, in family-law cases on granting parental authority, determining the principal place of residence and visitation rights of the parents in case of divorce or a judicial separation;
- At the request of the Court, to investigate the environmental and financial situation (parental authority, principal place of residence, visitation and alimony), custody decisions and/or changes in custody and adoption requests, to report and advise hereon;
- To act as guardian ad litem in cases concerning the paternity of a minor, on appointment by the Court of First Instance. The Guardianship Council represents the interests of a minor during the proceedings on the basis of the filed statement containing comments;
- Alimony mediation and asking the Court to determine the alimony at the request of the caretaker parent;
- To guarantee that the amount(s) paid to the Guardianship Council for the maintenance of a minor are paid to the person entitled;
- To take care of the parental responsibility order regarding a minor, when it becomes known that a minor does not fall under the authority required by law, or that this authority over him/her is not exercised;
- Access mediation at the request of one of the parents and/or the Court;
- To issue parental authority statements.
Source: www.org.aw