Part-time migrant caregiver program goes national

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) The Ministry of Labor (MOL) on Thursday opened a new round of applications for public welfare organizations to join a pilot program that trains and dispatches part-time migrant caregivers, with the goal of extending the service to all 22 cities and counties across Taiwan.

The ministry said applications for the program's third phase will be accepted through Sept. 24, after receiving repeated requests from people living in areas where the service is not yet available.

The "Diversified Companion Care Service Pilot Program," commonly known as the "hourly migrant worker" program, allows eligible people with temporary or short-term caregiving needs to hire migrant caregivers through nonprofit organizations on a self-pay basis as an alternative to employing live-in foreign caregivers.

Launched on April 27 last year to help address growing demand for caregivers, the program currently authorizes 13 public welfare organizations to recruit, train and dispatch non-live-in migrant caregivers to multiple households in a single day. The service is available in 16 cities and counties, covering more than 70 percent of Taiwan's local jurisdictions.

The ministry hopes more organizations will join the program so services can be expanded to all 22 cities and counties across Taiwan, with new providers expected to begin operating as early as the start of next year, according to Hu Hsin-yeh (胡欣野), deputy head of the Workforce Development Agency's Cross-Border Workforce Management Division.

Under the program, eligible applicants can hire migrant caregivers for self-funded care ranging from four to 24 hours per assignment, with workers required to receive a mandatory 10-hour rest break between shifts.

Eligible users include people with disabilities, those with major illnesses or injuries, individuals who have been hospitalized or undergone surgery within the previous three months, those who qualify to hire a live-in foreign caregiver, and people assessed as requiring Level 2 to Level 8 long-term care.

Services include assistance with daily living activities, accompaniment on outings or medical visits, and supervision to ensure the care recipient's safety.

According to MOL statistics, the program had provided more than 100,000 hours of care to over 10,000 people as of the end of July.

The ministry said one-time use and appointments made once every one to two weeks accounted for the largest share of service requests, suggesting the program is helping fill gaps in Taiwan's long-term care system.