The Cabinet has approved a Ministry of Health and Welfare proposal to expand the Social Safety Net program to bolster preventive assistance for disadvantaged households, health officials said yesterday.
The expanded program would focus on preventive measures instead of reacting to family tragedies that have already occurred, Social and Family Affairs Administration Director-General Chou Tao-chun (周道君) told reporters after he was sworn in as agency head.
The reoriented program would look to support vulnerable couples expecting children, known domestic violence cases, low-income families, families with members who have learning difficulties or related conditions, and families dependent on long-term care, he said.
Photo: CNA
The changes to the program reflect the department’s shift of policy focus from dealing with the aftermath of domestic abuse to preventing it, Chou said.
Under the proposed policy changes, the department would begin advising expectant mothers under its purview on best practices for raising children and making adjustments to their home environment in the third trimester of pregnancy, he said.
Some parents could expect help in the form of home visits by social workers, childcare workers, nurses and other professionals as soon as their children are born, Chou said.
The Social Safety Net program was originally established to integrate social welfare services and match government assistance to the requirements of individual cases, he said.
Revisions to the program emphasize ensuring that government offices involved in a case would share pertinent information with each other, Chou said.
The agency would implement “smart” and community-based long-term care solutions and propose amendments to the People with Disabilities Rights Protection Act (身心障礙者權益保障法) by the year’s end, he said.
Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said that upgrading the former social and family department into a ministerial administration is part of a push to reorganize the ministry.
The ministry’s policy aim is to improve the integration of medicine and long-term care, fields in which Chou has decades of experience, Shih added.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS