More than 300 social workers yesterday staged a rally in front of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) demanding it revoke a plan to increase home visitations to enhance oversight following the death of a toddler allegedly because of child abuse.
A one-year-old boy nicknamed Kai-kai (剴剴), who was temporarily placed under the full-time care of a licensed at-home childcare provider by the Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF) while waiting to be adopted, was reportedly abused to death by the caregiver in December last year.
The caregiver, surnamed Liu (劉), was arrested and detained in January, but the case only came under the media spotlight on Monday last week. A social worker, surnamed Chen (陳), who was in charge of Kai-kai’s case, was named as a defendant the next day on suspicion of falsifying records.
Photo: CNA
The ministry invited specialists, local governments officials and the CWLF to a meeting on Friday last week to review the case, and one of the measures proposed was to increase home visitations by social workers.
Chanting “social workers refuse to be scapegoats” and “conduct a comprehensive review of the social safety net,” representatives from social workers’ unions in Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taoyuan, Taichung and Hualien County gathered in front of the ministry’s offices in Taipei, demanding that the plan be scrapped.
Taipei Social Workers Union vice chairperson Shen Yao-yi (沈曜逸) presented the unions’ five demands: conduct a comprehensive review of the case instead of using social workers to mend rifts in the social safety net; invite social worker representatives to join the ministry’s review meetings; revoke plans to increase home visitations; enhance social workers’ occupational safety; and ensure reasonable salaries and working conditions for social workers.
The social safety net is not a “wonder drug” and it should not be borne by social workers alone, as child abuse prevention require the cooperation of many agencies, Shen said.
Increasing home visitations is not the solution, he said, adding that the ministry has not listened to social workers.
Moreover, boosting home visits cannot hinder or reveal hidden abuses, but it might undermine the trust between social workers and the people they visit, he said.
The ministry’s proposal of having social workers make “unannounced visits” is even more difficult, he said.
Prosecutors needs a warrant to search homes, and social workers do not even have the legal authority to demand a visit, especially if the other side refuses or ask to postpone the visit to another day, he added.
Given the heavy workload and insufficient manpower, demanding that home visits be increased might result in sacrificing quality for quantity and lead to more social workers quitting, he said.
“Kai-kai’s mother gave birth to him after committing a crime and he was left to his grandmother. [Kai-kai] fell through several levels of the social safety net. Is it the fault of a single social worker?” Kaohsiung Social Workers Union secretary-general Kuo Chih-nan (郭志南) said.
“What kind of respect or support has society given social workers?” he asked.
Citing data from the ministry’s Department of Social Assistance and Social Work last year, Kuo said that the turnover rate for social workers is high and, on average, one social worker gets injured at work every three days.
Social workers are willing to come forward and communicate with the public about their jobs, but the ministry and local governments should not hide behind them when problems arise, he added.
Health ministry Secretary-General Chang Yung-ming (張雍敏) and Department of Social Assistance and Social Work Director-General Su Chao-ju (蘇昭如) accepted their written petition.
Separately, asked about the social workers’ rally, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Li-feng (李麗芬) said the ministry would continue to discuss and respond to their demands.
The ministry will also invite specialists next month to discuss the issue of increasing home visitations, she said at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
The conclusion reached at Friday’s meeting on increasing home visitations does not cover all types of cases, she said, adding that other types of assistance can be provided, such as designating physicians.
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