No matter how thoroughly you research a daycare center, you never know exactly who will be caring for your child. The Certificate of Conduct (VOG) is the first requirement staff must meet, but what does that document actually tell you about safety within an organization?
What is a VOG and who checks it for childcare?
A Certificate of Conduct (Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag/VOG) is an official document from Justis, the ministerial department that assesses the integrity of people in vulnerable professions, among other things. A valid VOG is mandatory for everyone working in childcare. This applies to permanent staff, but also to temporary workers, cleaners with child contact, and even volunteers who are present regularly. Read here more about the contents of a VOG.
The application runs through the Childcare Personnel Register, a central system where all employees in the sector are registered. The daycare center (kinderdagverblijf/KDV) or childminder agency (gastouderbureau) applies for the VOG, not the employee themselves. This prevents someone from forging a declaration or using an old version. The organization receives notification from Justis: approval, rejection, or additional investigation.
What does a VOG mean for your child's safety?
The VOG is a snapshot. It says something about someone's past, not about future behavior. That's a limitation you should know about as a parent. At the same time, it is an effective filter: people with serious convictions for sexual abuse, violence, or sexual offenses do not get through.
Which offenses appear on the VOG and which do not
Justis specifically looks at criminal offenses relevant to working with children. These are not only convictions, but also completed proceedings and sometimes even reports to the Child Abuse Reporting Center that led to an investigation. A traffic fine or small-scale financial fraud usually does not appear. What is visible are sexual offenses, violent crimes, drug dealing in the vicinity of minors, and recent convictions for burglary theft.
There is a nuance that many parents don't know: the VOG does not show áll judicial data. Justis makes an assessment based on the position. The strictest category applies to childcare, but a conviction from twenty years ago for something other than child abuse may sometimes be disregarded.
How long is a VOG valid for childcare workers
The VOG officially has no expiration date, but the Childcare Act requires organizations to periodically check whether new offenses have been added. Most organizations use a term of three to five years for renewed screening. Justis checks whether there is reason for renewed investigation.
If an employee is convicted during their employment, the organization does not always know immediately. After all, the VOG has already been issued. That is why the continuous screening system exists.
How does continuous screening work at Justis?
Continuous screening is the safety net beneath the one-time VOG. Since 2020, all employees in childcare are automatically monitored by Justis. If someone is convicted of a relevant criminal offense after appointment, the employer receives notification within a few weeks. This can lead to immediate suspension or dismissal.
This system only works if the employee is actually registered in the Personnel Register. With illegal childcare or if an organization neglects registration, this mechanism falls away. During a Municipal Health Service (GGD) inspection, it is checked whether all employees are correctly registered. A deviation from this is a serious violation.
When an employee moves to another childcare facility, the VOG remains valid, but the new employer must check the registration in the Personnel Register themselves and activate continuous screening. This does not always happen automatically.
What does the GGD do with VOG data during inspections?
The GGD inspects at least annually for compliance with the Childcare Act. The VOG and Personnel Register are a fixed component of this. Inspectors check whether all employees present on the work floor are actually registered, whether VOG declarations are present, and whether a protocol exists for dealing with rejections or signals from continuous screening.
A daycare center that lets an employee work without a valid VOG risks an enforcement recommendation to the municipality. This can lead to fines, adjustment requirements, or in the worst case closure. The GGD publishes these findings in the National Childcare Register, where you as a parent can look for free.
What the GGD does nót do is assess the content of individual VOGs. That is the responsibility of Justis and the employer. The GGD only checks whether the process around the VOG is in order. That distinction is relevant when you read an inspection report: "no particularities" means the administration is correct, not that all employees have been personally screened by the GGD.
What questions do you ask about VOG and safety during a tour?
The VOG is a system that you as a parent cannot check yourself. You don't see the paper, you don't get access to the database. What you can do is ask targeted questions to management to gauge how seriously safety is taken.
Ask how the organization deals with new employees: when may someone work alone with children? At some daycare centers this is only after VOG approval, at others someone starts under supervision while the application is pending. Also ask about the policy for temporary workers: have they undergone the same screening, and how does the permanent group leader know that at the moment itself?
A second line of questions concerns the internal reporting protocol. What does the organization do if Justis gives a signal from continuous screening? Is there a direct line with the GGD, or is it first investigated internally? And how does the organization deal with reports from parents or employees about transgressive behavior, regardless of the VOG?
Finally: ask whether a four-eyes principle applies to certain actions. Changing diapers, helping with the toilet, comforting in a secluded corner: situations where an employee is alone with a child. A VOG says nothing about how someone acts in such a moment. An organization that structurally prevents employees from being alone with children in vulnerable situations adds a layer that the VOG cannot provide.
Get started
The VOG is a beginning, not a guarantee. Combine the certainty of formal screening with your own observation during tours, and with information from GGD inspection reports that you can consult in advance. On Kiddie.nl you will find per daycare center a summary of those reports, including findings about personnel registration and safety policy. This way you make a choice based not only on your feeling, but on verifiable facts.