After a one-year-old boy in foster care died after allegedly being abused by his caregiver, the Children’s Rights Alliance Taiwan yesterday proposed three changes to Taiwan’s child placement system.
First, care and evaluation mechanisms in foster care and during the adoption process should be improved, the alliance said in a statement.
As the government relies on social welfare groups to handle child placement before adoption, which typically takes about six to 18 months, it should provide clear guidance or regulations relating to placement procedures.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
In addition, after each case is referred to welfare groups, the government should continue overseeing the case and communicate with cooperating units, it said.
The group also proposed the amendment of articles relating to child placement in the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法) to clarify rights and responsibilities of competent authorities and social groups, as well as measures to follow.
Moreover, the group said that required check-ins by social workers should be more frequent and unannounced to effectively monitor the quality of childcare provided.
While unannounced check-ins might be difficult in practice, the alliance called for the government to find ways to overcome these difficulties rather than waiting and reviewing cases when things go wrong.
Currently, more than 500 children in Taiwan are going through adoption procedures as a result of their parents experiencing financial difficulties or lack of support from their biological families, the alliance said.
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