Health minister apologizes for boy's death in foster care

Taipei, March 18 (CNA) The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) on Monday apologized and announced plans to improve Taiwan's adoption system after a 1-year-old boy in foster care died after allegedly being abused by his caregiver.

In remarks to a legislative committee, Health Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) said the boy's death -- which occurred last December but only came to light in recent weeks -- exposed flaws in the design and implementation of Taiwan's social safety net.

"On behalf of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, I apologize to the [boy's] family and to society for these lapses, which led to the loss of a life," he said.

In a five-page written report submitted to the committee, the health ministry reviewed factors that may have contributed to the incident and set out several planned reforms to the country's adoption system.

Among the changes, the ministry said that in the future, the formal assessment of a family's need to give up their child for adoption will be handled by local governments, rather than adoption agencies, as is currently the case.

Making local governments responsible for such assessments will eliminate possible conflicts of interest for adoption agencies -- who receive money from prospective adoptive parents -- and will also allow governments to provide additional support to the family considering giving up their child, the report said.

The report also noted that currently, adoption agencies are responsible for placing a child in foster care during the adoption process, despite the fact that they often have limited budgets and may not have long-term contracted caregivers who are well-suited to a particular child's needs.

To resolve this problem, it said, local governments will be given responsibility for placing children in foster care as they await adoption, and covering the relevant expenses, with which the central government can also help if necessary.

In addition, home-based caregivers who are contracted to act as foster parents during the adoption process need to be subject to stricter supervision than those who are employed as nannies, the report said.

To that end, the MOHW will hold discussions with local governments on increasing the frequency of visits to children in foster care, as well as improving training and possibly offering higher salaries for their caregivers, it said.

In terms of adoption agencies, the report said the MOHW would evaluate how to help the agencies' social workers -- who also visit children in foster care during the adoption process -- improve their professional knowledge and better identify signs of abuse.

At the same time, records of the social workers' visits will also be submitted to local governments, so that they can follow up on any cases about which suspicions have been raised, the report said.

Before Hsueh took to the podium to read the report, however, lawmakers in the committee expressed their frustration with its limited scope by calling a vote on a motion to reject it.

Taiwan People's Party Legislator Chen Gau-tzu (陳昭姿), who filed the motion, complained that such review reports should be used to "admit mistakes and propose effective improvement plans," rather than just announcing administrative orders.

Hsueh, who was ultimately allowed to speak, said the report's limited nature was due to the fact that the other parties involved in the case -- namely the Taipei and New Taipei city governments and the Child Welfare League Foundation -- have yet to submit their own review reports on the incident.

Once those documents are received and the ministry can better evaluate the failures in the case and possible improvements, it will report back to the Legislature, including on the areas where it bears responsibility, Hsueh said.