The Legislative Yuan today passed the Childcare Services Act (兒童托育服務法), which stipulates that childcare personnel can be fined up to NT$600,000 for abuse or harassment and requires childcare institutions to install surveillance cameras.
The Executive Yuan in May last year approved a draft of the act to establish a standalone law governing childcare for children aged zero to two.
Key provisions include adjusting qualifications for in-home childcare providers, improving the regulation of childcare institutions, expanding childcare options and handling improper treatment.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The Legislative Yuan this morning passed a third reading of the act following eight reviews by the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee and three cross-party negotiations.
Childcare services should prioritize children’s best interests and be of high quality, widespread, affordable and convenient, the act says.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare is the central authority responsible for national-level childcare policies and programs, conducting regular childcare requirement surveys and collecting data on childcare services, including fees and quotas, it says.
The act also stipulates that the central authority shall convene a childcare advisory committee to coordinate, plan and promote childcare services and set guidelines for fees and refunds for home-based and institutional childcare services.
Qualified childcare professionals should register with the local authority and obtain a home-based childcare services certificate before providing such services, the act says.
The central authority must set principles for in-home childcare fees and refunds, and local authorities must set regional standards and review them at least every two years, it says.
Home-based childcare providers must submit to inspection by local authorities and charge fees according to regional standards, it says.
They must also sign a contract with the child’s legal guardian, which would be based on a template set by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and obtain professional liability insurance, it adds.
The bill further stipulates that childcare institutions must install surveillance cameras, keep footage confidential and retain it for at least 30 days.
The footage must be uploaded to an online system established by local authorities with subsidies from the central government, it adds.
If a childcare provider physically or psychologically abuses, bullies, sexually harasses or otherwise harms or mistreats a child, they would face a fine ranging from NT$60,000 to NT$600,000 and their name would be publicly disclosed, the act says.
Operating a childcare institution without approval and admitting children would result in a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 and an order to stop providing care, it says.
If a childcare provider accumulates a certain number of contraventions within two years, they would be suspended from accepting new children, the act says.
If they are suspended from new admissions twice within five years and commit other contraventions, their registration would be revoked, it says.
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