The Ministry of the Interior tripled the budget for the campaign against child abuse this year in the hope of offering children better protection and lowering the incidence of child abuse.
During a conference hosted by the ministry on Thursday, Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) said that 9,897 cases of child abuse were reported last year. However, a shortage of professional social workers and a small budget constrained local governments from effectively dealing with the problem.
High-risk families
Last year, the ministry began offering counseling for children of "high-risk" families -- families with parents that lack the ability to take care of their children either due to illness, drug or alcohol problems, or who suffer from suicidal tendencies -- that may be more prone to child abuse.
Last year the ministry provided a budget of NT$44 million (US$1.36 million) for civic groups to monitor high-risk families, with 2,843 children receiving counseling.
Lee said that the results had been positive, encouraging the ministry to establish a better system for reporting abuse with a goal of helping 10,000 children this year.
Budget hike
This year, a budget of NT$135 million -- three times higher than last year's -- has been set aside for civic group subsidies, which would be used to work on abuse-prevention, counseling and the training of social workers, Lee said.
In addition, social workers would be trained to identify high-risk families, Lee said.
Child-care services and after-school tutoring are also offered to these families, he added.
Lee encouraged local governments to pay attention to child-abuse issues and vowed that the central government would do its best to assist in these efforts.
The conference was attended by more than 60 officials from relevant local government agencies.
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