A small privately run children’s home near Aarhus faces possible closure after Socialtilsyn Midt signalled its intention to withdraw the home’s approval, following findings that the director approved his own million-krone salary, placed family members on high pay with no documented work, and that documentation submitted for their work was so inconsistent the authority considered it unreliable and potentially fabricated.
Socialtilsyn Midt, the regional social supervision authority, issued a formal decision in July 2026 stating its intent to withdraw the approval of Natura Hjem ApS, a residential care facility for vulnerable children and young people headquartered at Høvej 24S in Aarhus. The inspection report details serious deficiencies in both care quality and financial management. At the center of the case is director Wassim Chaachouh, who signed his own employment contract and set a budgeted annual salary of DKK 1,221,480. Between January and April 2026, he received DKK 446,906, an implied annualized rate of roughly DKK 1.34 million before benefits.
That figure is considerably higher than examples Socialtilsyn Midt considers reasonable for comparable positions, and it sits uncomfortably alongside Natura Hjem’s financial performance. The home’s 2024 annual report, covering its first accounting period from June to December 2024, shows a loss and very limited equity, prompting concern about its financial resilience. According to the 2024 accounts, total staff expenses divided by the small number of full-time equivalent employees imply unusually high average compensation for a residential child care setting.
Family on the payroll, but missing from the home
Inspectors found that Chaachouh’s spouse, sister-in-law, and brother were all on high salaries. Yet staff, residents, and municipal caseworkers could not confirm these family members’ actual presence or functions at the home. When Natura Hjem later submitted work schedules and documentation to prove their roles, Socialtilsyn Midt concluded the records conflicted with other testimony and considered them unreliable and potentially fabricated. The report raises concerns that public funds earmarked for vulnerable children were diverted to salaries that bought little or no actual care.
Daily rates for specialized residential care can run into several thousand kroner per child per day. At least four young people were placed at Natura Hjem by two municipalities in 2026, three from Tønder Kommune and one from Horsens Kommune. For a facility registered in 2024 and already showing financial strain in its first accounting period, attracting multiple municipal placements speaks to how limited supply can be in Denmark’s residential care market.
A sitting MP on the board, but ‘not active and competent’
Socialtilsyn Midt reserved some of its sharpest language for the home’s former board, which included sitting Venstre parliamentarian Helena Artmann Andresen. According to the authority’s decision, the board was described as “not active and competent,” and Danish law requires boards to ensure economic responsibility and react when problems threaten a facility’s approval. Artmann Andresen responded with a written statement saying the board never received the inspection report and only learned the scale of the director’s pay when she saw the annual accounts. She said she could not accept the director’s pay level once she finally saw it.
That defense raises uncomfortable questions about how boards of small social enterprises in Denmark are briefed and whether political figures serving on such boards have the capacity or tools to perform real oversight. The new board chair, lawyer Matti Emil Taul Korpela, has told Socialtilsyn Midt that Natura Hjem does not accept several of the report’s points of concern. He says the home is working to refute and counter-document some criticisms and to remedy issues where there is room for improvement. He insists the home and its auditor are cooperating fully with the authority.
A fragile system, and the children caught in it
According to Eurochild’s 2019 country profile, Denmark relies more heavily on out-of-home placements than some comparable EU states, with roughly 1.9 percent of all children in alternative care versus about 1.4 to 1.6 percent in the Netherlands in the same period. Statistics Denmark figures show approximately 14,974 children and young people were in out-of-home care in 2024, up from 14,643 in 2023 and roughly 13,900 in 2019, representing an increase of about 7 to 8 percent over five years.
Many placements, especially for older youths, are in small private group homes and institutions rather than foster families. According to a VIVE study published in 2020, 44 percent of a cohort of 225 youths in Danish out-of-home care experienced a placement breakdown, and 20 percent of those breakdowns occurred before four months. Cases like Natura Hjem’s potential closure fit into this picture of instability, where changes in provider approval or finances can translate quickly into disruptive moves for young people.
For internationals living in Denmark, the case echoes broader debates about transparency and accountability in semi-privatized welfare services. Information is often fragmented across Danish-language inspection reports, corporate accounts, and municipal documents. That makes it difficult for non-Danish speakers to track whether providers marketing themselves with nature-based buzzwords are actually delivering safe, evidence-based care. Natura Hjem’s public website emphasizes bonfires, outdoor activities, and a therapeutic approach rooted in nature, but according to Socialtilsyn Midt’s report, the planned nature-based activities were not consistently reflected in everyday practice.
Families whose children are affected should contact the placing municipality’s child welfare department immediately to ask what new placement options are being arranged. Municipalities must ensure continuity of care and are responsible for finding an alternative approved facility if Natura Hjem closes. Staff facing potential job loss can seek guidance through their union or employment rights channels. For board members and owners, access to the full inspection material and legal assistance may be necessary to navigate Denmark’s administrative law.
The broader lesson is troubling. Denmark has strong formal safeguards, regional supervision authorities, and detailed public statistics. Yet the Natura Hjem case suggests gaps in early detection of governance problems, particularly around self-dealing and board oversight. When a small company can run losses, pay a director more than a million kroner, and keep family members on high salaries for months before inspectors step in, the system’s capacity to protect its most vulnerable children remains an open question.
