C. Alternative Care of Children
Issue 6 Violation of the Rights of the Child in Out-of-Home
Placement
Low Percentage of Family-Based Care for Children
21. According to Attachments 5-7 and 5-8 of the Second Report and
Control Yuan's investigation, 15 residential placement (63.34%)
accounted for the highest percentage of out-of-home placement of
children during 2016-2019, followed by foster families (30.95%);
among them, placement in the form of family child care increased from
1.64% in 2016 to 3.45% in 2019, which is the highest growth among all
types of placement. The percentage of family child care (3.45%) was
already higher than that of kinship placement (2.92%) in 2019. In
addition, according to §167 and Attachment 6-27 of the Second Report,
referrals to other placement organizations accounted for 42.86% of
cases closed in 2020, a record high in the past 5 years.
22. The Control Yuan’s 2018 investigation report16 points out that multiple
transfers to different placements are detrimental to children’s physical
and mental development. The MOHW responded to NHRC's written
inquiry about the reasons for transfers by stating "the number of
children with special needs has increased, and as the situations of
children have become more complex, it is more difficult to care for
them. The caregivers do not have enough professional competence or
support resources, which leads to the switch of placement of children."
The NHRC believes that the Ministry is still unable to address the care
dilemma that entails multiple changes of placement even though it has
15
16
The Control Yuan investigation report approved on Feb 4, 2021. (Tainan City Government Child
Abuse Case)
The Control Yuan investigation report approved on Jan 4, 2018. (Insufficient Personnel in Children
Placement Organizations, Evaluation and Exit Mechanism)
17