Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) yesterday said the government aims to better protect children’s safety by tightening the management of childcare services, as the Legislative Yuan began reviewing a draft bill titled “childcare services act” (兒童托育服務法).
The Executive Yuan on May 8 approved the draft bill introduced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) that would increase oversight of childcare providers and introduce penalties for misconduct.
The bill was proposed following public outcry over the death of a one-year-old toddler nicknamed “Kai Kai” (剴剴), who died in December last year due to alleged abuse by two certified nanny sisters.
Photo: Lin Hsin-de, Taipei Times
According to the Executive Yuan, care services for children younger than two years old are regulated by the health ministry, while care and education services for children aged two to six are regulated by the Ministry of Education, so the draft bill focuses on care services for toddlers younger than two.
From 2018 to March this year, the number of public childcare facilities increased from 98 to 502, private infant daycare centers that provide quasi-public childcare services increased from 662 to 1,130, and at-home childcare providers increased from about 17,700 to 23,100, the MOHW said.
The enrollment rate of childcare services also increased from 9.43 percent to 26.95 percent, it said.
It is necessary to establish a comprehensive supervision and management mechanism to improve service quality and protect the children and their parents’ rights, the health ministry said.
The draft bill is aimed at tightening the management of childcare services to better protect children’s safety at home or in care facilities, Chiu said.
The main points of the bill include establishing a standard operating procedure for adoption and better management of childcare organizations, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lue Jen-der (呂建德) said.
There are different opinions on the draft bill, and the ministry would listen to comments, Lue said.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party legislators Fan Yun (范雲) and Saidhai Tahovecahe told a news conference that the draft bill has some flaws in its child abuse investigation mechanism.
The mechanism referred to the latest versions of the Early Childhood Education and Care Act (幼兒教育及照顧法) and the Preschool Educators’ Act (教保服務人員條例), which took effect in March 2023, Fan said, adding that after their implementation, that the acts have some flaws has become clear.
The new bill should stipulate that in an abuse case, the child’s parents should be informed immediately, and there should be clearer regulations for child protection and resources during an investigation, she said.
The child and parents should receive the investigation report and the final judgement, there should be a remedy mechanism if parents have doubts about the investigation, and the time required to publicize the identity of an alleged child abuser should be extended, she said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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