If only one pen is wrong, you hang

Childcare institution/reintegration office mother M. and daughter L.

Bankrupt in 2015 - Municipality D.

Mother M.'s doll studio has a long history. Artist, mother M., started making jewelry and clothing in the 1960s. She also has an art gallery. Unusual for the time, an ambitious, working mother. She started making dolls in the 70s. The pierrot dolls get porcelain heads and hands. Feathers will be added later. The design is complete with beads and exclusive fabrics. Around 70 home workers make the dolls. The desirable art objects, sometimes up to one and a half meters high, find their way. On international stock markets in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, USA and Canada, they are purchased by wholesalers. At the weekend, mother and daughter take weekly trips to Paris to get the most beautiful fabrics. The dolls are so popular that they are even counterfeited in Asia. In 2002, daughter L. joined her mother's family business. She swaps the chilly world of the trade union and the legal profession for working with her mother. In the 90s, mother M. started a reintegration company. First in H., then A. and then in D. In 2009, mother and daughter offer a plan to the municipality of D. to add a daycare center to their company. They are assigned an old school building on the outskirts of the city. On the upper floor, more than 100 people work on assembling and painting the dolls. Working with ceramics, papier mache, feathers, beads and fine fabrics fills their hours. Sometimes a few hours a week, sometimes all week. This is how teenage mothers, status holders, women with benefits, and citizens find meaningful daily activities, their children are cared for, and they learn how to use money. The parents are often in debt and were supervised by D.'s Budget Advice Center. On the bottom floor, L. heads the daycare center where little ones aged 0 to 4 are cared for in four former classrooms. Integral care under one roof, a visionary idea with many winners. The studio and childcare are open five days a week. From early morning, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Even two-week-old babies can go to mother and daughter. Loving help and care is sorely needed if the home situation needs extra attention. They are happy to give that.

In 2011, the tide suddenly started to turn. The social daycare center suddenly receives an operating ban, even though everything was in order. After 2 ½ weeks, the daycare can reopen. When you buy a playground equipment, the light goes green again. A futility. However, the reputational damage has occurred here or at all. The rumor circuit thinks: “where there is smoke, there is fire”. The media follows. Without the parents knowing, the municipality stops the childcare allowance for mothers who often follow a reintegration process. The payment for the forty children - which the Municipality must make - remains stuck in the municipality's account for incomprehensible reasons. With this money, they run their business. The bills do have to be paid. Meanwhile, L. is dealing with an alderman who just got married and is stalking her with text messages. She responds dismissively to the advances.

Something had to be found, a firefighter explains later

A period of intensive checks follows. L. just became a mother herself. After three weeks of rest, she has to get back to work. Repeated times, they undergo severe GGD inspections. The fire department wants to close the case. A missing signature, a small crack in the window. Everything is being enlarged. Chairs are rejected. During a new check, the seats that have not yet been replaced are found to be 'a good choice'. So nothing wrong with that.

In 2013, the tax authorities received a report from the Municipality D. Daughter L. is a fraudster, she must repay her childcare allowance and be dealt with harshly. She must repay 15,000 euros. Blauw Tax Administration (MKB) is investigating and finds no reason to see her as a fraud. The Appeals Committee engaged in the Supplements Department draws the following conclusion: “if the municipality says you are fraud, you are fraud. Whatever the colleagues on the blue side think of it, we won't believe them. Point. Case closed. ' A seizure will therefore follow in 2014. In business, the agreed payments that form the basis of their business remain unpaid; privately, daughter L. has to pay back the childcare allowance. On top of all this, daughter L. also gets into a serious car accident at that time. The personal injury specialist determines the compensation of 250,000 euros. This will not be paid out. The curtain will therefore fall permanently in 2015. They're going bankrupt. The Municipality D. refuses to pay out the 200,000 euro balance, which they are entitled to. With the minutes, a magic trick is played. The conversation about this does not seem to have taken place. Thinking along, helping, paying, that's not the case. The goal seems to have been achieved. Mission completed. The result is that mother M. and daughter L. lose their social enterprise. Their pride, their passion. They can put everything in their company, now there is nothing. Only misery and sorrow.

Ultimately, administrative pressure (the operating ban, stopping the surcharges), the loss of reputation and liquidity problems, the supervisory pressure, the escalation through fraud suspicions and seizure caused them to go bankrupt. The consequences for mother and daughter are huge. (grand) son is also in danger of being removed from home. Daughter L. can just prevent this. It is remarkable that the person who wanted to impose this is now playing a role in the handling of the broad aid operation.

I worked my ass off and yet my whole life slips out of my hands

“When I look back,” says L. “I feel like I was always on the alert. A thousand percent everything had to be in order. The threat and fear of sanctions was high. Her mother is “completely crazy” about the situation. She sees her wonderful company go under and she doesn't know the cause. She has an amazing track record. The idea is good. She helps a lot of people with it. It's not her or her daughter L. They're good at working together. She has been doing business for 50 years. Unable to process it, she finally decides to stop talking. She cannot handle the imminent removal of her grandson; she is very afraid that something will happen to her daughter. Those feelings deprive her of her zest for life. Eventually, she is forcibly admitted. Runs away often. One day, it will be over for her. She dies.

L. links her death directly to the pressure of events.

My failure lies in the street

The BV's debts disappear due to the bankruptcy. New debts are coming. They became homeless. Her mother had to sell her home at a loss. The childcare leaders have made agreements with the municipality to start a new childcare facility. The furniture was purchased from the tax authorities. The protocols and the children have been included. They quit in mid-January, and the new organization started on March 1. In a new and adapted building. So behind their backs, they had been working on this for a long time.

Years of continuous turmoil followed. Continuous negotiations with bailiffs, the loss of the home in 2013, the seizure in 2014, staying in ever-changing holiday homes, that was their life. Even a friend in Wassenaar offers them his home, where they can stay for free for two years to relax. With each move, mother becomes more disoriented and disillusioned. She eventually even stops speaking. The reputational damage suffered is great for daughter L. She is systematically rejected. She is systematically rejected in applications, even though she has completed a law degree. The Rotary expelled her because she told the alderman to stop texting. She is now unable to function at her level either. When she happens to meet a former Rotary Clubmate, she asks why he didn't ask her what was going on. He couldn't answer it.

Ultimately, bread must be put on the table. Out of sheer necessity, L. is going to work in jobs that are not right for her. Mopping floors at La Place, working in a laundry room, helping with disability care, handing out samples. Everything she earns disappears into creditors' pockets. Fortunately, with her mother's income, they are just barely able to earn a living. Not a luxury. Daughter L. eventually pays off the debts in full herself.

She also faces the necessary opposition at the administrative level. Framed as psychologically unstable (she would be on the verge of psychosis), she must fight against her son's supervision. Fortunately, school says that L. is a good mother — even though her son went to eight different primary schools, he is doing well. So good that he can even go to the gymnasium. He has been at it for three years now and is achieving good results, has nice friends. Her opponents are spreading rumors that she is a bad entrepreneur. They moved fourteen times and have not had their own place to live since 2013.

'I don't want to be dependent'

Due to the lack of recognition for her business damage, she cannot get over it. L. is now 55 years old and has not been able to accrue a pension. She has been recognized as a victim of the surcharges since 2021. Because of all the stress, her upper and lower jaws became inflamed. She is missing eight molars now. She doesn't like dentures. Implants do not want to reimburse “broad assistance”. She can't afford them herself. I want to have new teeth, not dentures. 'I can completely forget about a new career'. She hopes to find peace in her own home. She is offered a senior home with one room. In another city. I can't do this to my child. Away from his friends and at another school, I won't do that. I want peace and stability after all these difficult years.

Recognition without recovery fuels anger and distrust

'I am in dire need. Red sends me to Blue, Blue sends me to D. My son and I really need to be saved. It's an institutional maze,” L. summarizes. The police, AIVD and the tax authorities refuse to provide access to its files. They're not even allowed to cooperate, because then I can get compensation. This creates a chain of consequential damage. I am the victim of this.

“Shorten the way, set up a counter with a permanent contact person,” advises L. “Tell me what happened is true. Pay for the damage. At least I can get on with my life. Can I do business again”. I am full of ideas. Being an entrepreneur suits me. I am good at arranging things and enjoy doing it. 'I'm a quarter but I'm living like a dime now. I want to get back to work.

It is time for real recovery.