professional juvenile court judges, strengthen the professional knowledge of judicial personnel (including judges) in regard to children and youth as well as the CRC, and implement reforms in the professional juvenile court system. Judicial Placements 134. Regarding §351 of the Second Report: The Control Yuan found in its investigation that there have been cases of juvenile offenders being placed in an overcrowded placement organization 98 that has had 21 cases of sexual abuse over the past 3 years. Officials at judicial agencies and other related units failed to report these cases of sexual abuse and discipline via physical abuse in accordance with the law and instead covered them up. This case indicates a systematic failure in commissioned placement ordered by local governments, the central ministries (the MOHW and the MOJ), and the Judicial Yuan, despite oversight at each government level. From the Control Yuan’s investigation report, it is clear that the issue of juvenile offenders is a multi-faceted and complex one. If necessary, out-of-home placement should be moved from the judicial protection system to the social welfare system. However, due to the lack of stipulations in the Juvenile Justice Act, juvenile offenders for whom probation is ineffective are directly given the most severe punishment - juvenile detention (subject to reform education) - by judges.99 The Juvenile Justice Act should be amended as soon as possible to include the practice of switching juvenile offenders to the social welfare system. 135. Recommendation: The Judicial Yuan should direct an appropriate amount of funding toward juvenile placements and amend the Juvenile Justice Act as soon as possible to include provisions stating that juveniles placed under probation may be transferred from the judicial protection system to the social welfare system if deemed necessary by a juvenile court. Furthermore, the Judicial Yuan and Executive Yuan should implement a contact mechanism and integrate their resource platforms to provide suitable interventions and the bridging of services 98 99 The Control Yuan investigation report approved on Aug 9, 2018 (Sexual Abuse Cases at a Juvenile Placement Facility in Nantou). The Control Yuan investigation report approved on Aug 14, 2019 (Children and Youth Under Judicial Placement in Nantou Being Rejected by Organizations and Ruled to be Subject to Reformatory Education). 65