[Q&A] Ministry of Health and Welfare: "Pre-adoption foster care aims to make the best choice from the child's perspective"

Government Announces 'Measures to Strengthen Child Abuse Response System'

Foster Care Before Adoption Is the "Final Check"
Adoption Permission Withdrawal Is the "Last Resort"

Immediate Separation System Allows "Separation Even After One Report"
"Introduction of Crisis Child Family Protection System, Use of Temporary Shelter Facilities"

Overtime Reduction Beyond 70 Hours Is a "Field Demand"

Godeug-yeong, Director of Population Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, is briefing on measures to strengthen the child abuse response system on the afternoon of the 19th at the Government Complex Sejong in Sejong City.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] "Pre-adoption foster care is a system that allows prospective adoptive parents to make a final confirmation of their ability to properly raise the child. Withdrawal of adoption permission application should be considered as a last resort after efforts to maintain the family have been made." (Ko Deuk-young, Director of Population Policy Bureau, Ministry of Health and Welfare)

A major improvement in adoption procedures and post-management, triggered by the death of a 16-month-old child due to abuse ('Jung-in case'), is underway. The government plans to prevent recurrence of such incidents through enhanced education and system improvements. In particular, the problematic unified reporting reception and investigation procedures will be improved, and pre-adoption foster care, which President Moon Jae-in expressed commitment to, will be institutionalized. The 'immediate separation' system for suspected child abuse reports of two or more times, scheduled to be implemented in March, will also be operated.

On the 19th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that at the '1st Social Relations Ministers' Meeting,' it discussed the 'Child Abuse Response System Strengthening Plan' containing these measures together with related ministries.

Ko Deuk-young, Director of Population Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, explained about the pre-adoption foster care system, saying, "It must be carried out very cautiously from the perspective of the best interests of the child," and added, "Withdrawal of adoption permission application should be considered as a last resort after efforts to maintain the family have been made." Regarding the foster care period, he added, "Currently, it is customarily about 5 to 6 months."

He also clarified concerns about the immediate separation system, where children who should be separated after even one report might not be separated, stating, "In serious cases, immediate separation is possible even after one report." Regarding the increase in children under protective separation due to the immediate separation system, he said, "We plan to newly introduce a crisis child family protection system and utilize temporary protection facilities in cities and provinces."

Regarding the reinforcement of child protection dedicated personnel, Director Ko explained, "As much as possible, experienced existing public officials will be assigned to ensure the early stabilization of the public child abuse investigation project." In response to criticism that the relaxation of overtime limits aims to compensate for insufficient personnel through individual public officials' overtime rather than hiring more staff, he dismissed it, saying, "This is to resolve the issue of not receiving compensation even after working overtime, not to make them work over 70 hours of overtime."

The following is a Q&A with Ko Deuk-young, Director of Population Policy Bureau, Ministry of Health and Welfare

President Moon Jae-in is answering a reporter's question at the New Year's press conference held at the Blue House Chunuchu-gwan on the 18th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

- The institutionalization of pre-adoption foster care mentioned by President Moon Jae-in at the New Year's press conference is included in the plan. Does this mean institutionalizing withdrawal of adoption permission applications or even child replacement?

▲ There seems to be a difference in stance on whether adoption is viewed from the parents' perspective or the child's perspective. Pre-adoption foster care is a system that, on the premise that comprehensive qualification verification of prospective adoptive parents has been conducted, allows a final confirmation of whether the prospective adoptive parents have the ability to properly raise the child. From the child's perspective, if the prospective adoptive parents are not suitable, theoretically, withdrawal of the adoption permission application or finding other adoptive parents is possible. However, it must be carried out very cautiously from the perspective of the best interests of the child, and withdrawal of adoption permission application should be considered as a last resort after efforts to maintain the family have been made.

Last year, there were two cases of adoption withdrawal during the pre-foster care process. One case was withdrawn because the prospective adoptive parent was diagnosed with cancer, making adoption unavoidable to withdraw, and the other was due to the parent’s bankruptcy, failing to meet adoption requirements. Except for such extremely exceptional cases, there are no cases of withdrawal.

Reviewing pre-adoption foster care aims to make the best choice from the child's perspective and is a system to closely observe whether attachment relationships between the child and parents are properly formed through a legalized process.

- Regarding the pre-adoption foster care system, how long is the foster care period expected to be?

▲ The pre-adoption foster care system requires legal amendment to be finalized. It is expected to be from after the matching to before court approval. The customary period currently practiced is about 5 to 6 months.

- You mentioned strengthening the responsibilities of the state and local governments in the adoption system centered on private adoption agencies. How can the state strengthen its responsibility in the adoption process?

▲ Adoption is a continuous process of finding new parents and families. It involves protecting the child, assessing the parents' suitability, making judgments, providing post-services to help parents and children build good relationships and form attachments quickly, and professional intervention when problems arise. Among these, the state will directly perform or entrust private agencies to carry out certain tasks. Specific details are under expert consultation and will be explained concretely through amendments to the Special Adoption Act.

On the 11th, child rights organizations including Takteen Naeil and the Korea Single Mothers Support Network held a press conference in front of the main gate of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, urging the government to take measures regarding the abuse and death of an adopted child in the "Jung In case." / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

- Regarding the immediate separation system for two or more child abuse reports starting March 30, there are concerns about side effects, emphasizing the importance of timely separation regardless of the number of reports. There are also criticisms that children who should be separated after even one report might not be separated, and that child protection facilities are severely insufficient compared to the immediate implementation in March.

▲ Regarding the immediate separation system, in serious cases, immediate separation is possible even after one report. Currently, even after two reports, if there are clear signs, immediate separation can be implemented. Furthermore, last month, the response guidelines were revised to actively enforce immediate separation as an emergency measure according to the manual when reports are made by mandatory reporters such as medical personnel.

Due to the expected increase in children under protective separation from the immediate separation system, child victim shelters alone are insufficient. Therefore, a crisis child family protection system will be newly introduced, and temporary protection facilities in cities and provinces will be utilized. Cities and provinces without temporary protection facilities will be actively encouraged to establish them.

- Are the 14 additional child abuse victim shelters to be expanded within the year based on predicted increased demand after implementing the immediate separation system? Is it possible to estimate the number of children under protective separation expected to increase due to separation after two reports?

▲ The demand is expected to be much higher than 14. This number reflects those for which local governments have applied for installation and execution feasibility has been confirmed. An accurate estimate of demand for the immediate separation system is underway. Currently, about 3,000 cases of protective separation occur annually, and we plan to manage the situation to prepare for an increase of about 1.5 to 1.8 times. Additionally, precise separation demand estimation will be conducted to prevent protection gaps, and an emergency response task force will be established in the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Child Rights Protection Agency, and cities and provinces to respond. If facilities are insufficient in certain cities or provinces, adjustments will be made to ensure no gaps in child protection.

- What is the nature of the temporary protection facilities planned to be established at least one per city/province? Were these facilities not present before?

▲ Temporary protection facilities are places where crisis children generally go first when a crisis occurs. Currently, 13 facilities are installed in 7 cities and provinces. For cities and provinces without such facilities, guidance will be provided to establish them in light of the immediate separation system.

- You plan to newly introduce a crisis child family protection system and secure about 200 families. What kind of specialized training will they receive? Will financial support be provided? When is the system scheduled to start?

▲ Since the immediate separation system will be implemented at the end of March, the crisis child family protection system is scheduled to start in April. They will receive about 20 hours of specialized training covering characteristics of abused children, techniques for addressing special needs, foster parents' parenting attitudes, prevention of parenting stress, and understanding of foster children's biological families. Priority will be given to those with qualifications such as social worker or teacher licenses. Financial support will also be provided, including specialized child protection expenses, living expenses, child allowances, and parenting allowances according to the child.

- What are the specific plans to secure about 200 crisis child protection families?

▲ (Byun Hyo-soon, Director of Child Rights Division) Since 2003, the foster care system has been operated, continuously training foster parents. Currently, 176 parents have been trained as general or specialized foster parents. Although the crisis child protection family system is new, it is expected to be similar in content to professional foster care, aiming to protect crisis children in a family setting. We plan to utilize these trained parents first and continue training more in the future.

On the 11th, two days before the first trial of the Jeong-in case, who died after 16 months due to abuse by adoptive parents, a representative of the Child Abuse Prevention Association is urging the application of murder charges in front of the Seoul Yangcheon-gu Southern District Prosecutors' Office. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

- What are the specific plans for expanding child protection dedicated personnel and child abuse dedicated public officials? Will new hires be made, or will existing social welfare public officials be reassigned?

▲ To assign child abuse dedicated public officials, a total of 664 personnel costs were allocated to local governments last year and this year. They can be hired as professional career officials or experienced social welfare public officials can be prioritized for assignment to ensure continuous professional activity. They can be designated as professionals to improve treatment, and new public officials can also be assigned. We are actively guiding local governments to assign experienced existing public officials as much as possible to ensure the early stabilization of the public child abuse investigation project.

Regarding child protection dedicated personnel, a total of 715 will be assigned nationwide by 2022. Last year, 334 were already assigned, with 190 this year and 191 next year planned. They will be responsible for post-child abuse protective measures, managing and inspecting parenting situations, and supporting independence or return to the original family. New hires will be private professionals with social worker licenses and relevant experience.

- The training for new dedicated public officials dispatched to regional child protection specialized agencies will increase significantly from 24 hours to 80 hours. What content will be covered in the training?

▲ Training for child abuse dedicated public officials starts with theoretical education, followed by simulated child abuse scenarios where they learn to find child abuse tools, persuade parents, and input reports. To mitigate immediate field challenges, practical training time at child protection specialized agencies will be expanded. This mainly involves experiential learning, such as accompanying child abuse investigations with agency staff, visiting abused children's families and related community organizations, and observing case meetings.

- There are criticisms that relaxing the overtime limit for child abuse dedicated public officials from 57 to 70 hours essentially compensates for insufficient personnel through individual overtime. There are also suggestions to operate these officials on a shift system. What is the government's position?

▲ We will analyze by March whether additional child abuse dedicated public officials are needed and promptly reinforce as necessary. The relaxation of overtime limits aims to resolve issues where overtime work is not compensated due to restrictions, not to make officials work over 70 hours. It is a measure to improve working conditions based on field requests. Regarding the shift system, currently, some personnel assigned through police work division operate shifts, and we will analyze whether the staffing level is appropriate when assessing demand.

- The announced role-sharing improvement plan between police officers and child protection specialized agencies does not specify who has the authority to judge child abuse and decide on field measures. Who holds the authority for field judgment?

▲ It is difficult to explain uniformly. Field situations vary greatly depending on individual and specific circumstances, making it hard to specify concretely. Therefore, guidelines will be prepared by joint task forces of police and child abuse dedicated public officials, and joint learning will be conducted as a solution. With child abuse dedicated public officials assigned to cities, counties, and districts, cooperation with police is expected to improve, and clearer role division will be necessary.

Generally, local governments will primarily handle prevention activities such as reporting and publicity. Police will take the lead in initial responses when reports come in, and child abuse investigation officials will accompany police when joint dispatch is needed. Police will focus on restraining perpetrators from harming victims, while child abuse dedicated public officials will focus on protecting guardians.

For judgments on child abuse or cases requiring professional deliberation, integrated case meetings involving dedicated officials, police, and if necessary, doctors, lawyers, or teachers will conduct in-depth assessments and decide directions. These meetings can also provide advice on whether to conduct investigations and make abuse determinations.

On the 13th, the first trial for the adoptive parents accused of abusing and causing the death of their 16-month-old adopted daughter, Jeong In-yang, was held. Citizens are protesting in front of the Seoul Yangcheon District Court South Branch, urging the application of murder charges. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

- It was announced that adoption agencies will have adoption matching committees with external experts. If the committee members are mainly from the agency, can transparent decision-making be guaranteed? Experts have suggested placing matching committees in the community. What is your position on this?

▲ Placing adoption matching committees outside adoption agencies requires legal amendments. Therefore, having them within agencies with external experts aims to make matching more transparent and objective through manuals. Experts' suggestions to place matching committees in the community will be considered during the Special Adoption Act amendment process, and alternatives will be developed accordingly.

- The plan includes designating dedicated medical institutions for treating abused children. Please explain the specific roles of these institutions and the current status of discussions with related organizations such as the Medical Association, Hospital Association, or medical institutions.

▲ Provisions for designating dedicated medical institutions exist in current law. However, since child protection specialized agencies handle child abuse investigations, medical institutions have been supported through MOUs rather than direct designation. As child abuse investigation public projects are implemented by local governments, the number of designated dedicated medical institutions is gradually increasing. Currently, two have been designated, and efforts will continue to actively expand designations.

Dedicated medical institutions are medical facilities designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare or local governments to provide counseling, physical and mental treatment, examinations, and other specialized services for abused children. Child protection specialized agencies cannot designate these institutions, so MOUs have been used. With the publicization of child abuse investigation duties, designations have begun.

- It was announced that the appointment of public defenders for child abuse victims will be mandatory. Can prosecutors appoint public defenders even if guardians or relatives do not consent?

▲ (Park Eun-jung, Director of Child Abuse Response Division) The mandatory appointment of public defenders for child abuse victims will be stipulated in the Special Act on Punishment of Child Abuse. Currently, under Ministry of Justice regulations, prosecutors can appoint public defenders for victims even without consent from guardians or relatives if necessary. However, current rules require appointing public defenders for certain mandatory victims, with exceptions only if the victim explicitly refuses. The plan is to legislate this, and further review is needed on which exceptions to include or exclude during the legislative process.