Ministry of Health and Welfare Hopes to Reference Medical Care Act, Plans Amendment to Clarify Social Workers' Legal Liability Boundaries

(Central News Agency reporter Shen Pei-yao, Taipei, 24th) The sentencing of a social worker in the Kai-kai case has sparked discussions. Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lu Chien-te stated today that they will refer to the Medical Care Act to amend the 'Social Workers Act.' Legal responsibility will only be pursued when a social worker acts intentionally or exceeds professional discretion. The goal is to propose this within the year, and a professional review mechanism will also be studied.

In the case of the abused boy Kai-kai, the Taipei District Court sentenced Child Welfare League Foundation social worker Chen Shang-chieh to 2 years in prison for negligent homicide. The full text of the judgment was recently released, and the collegiate bench spent about 12 pages discussing Chen Shang-chieh's position as a guarantor, pointing out that it was based on individual case judgment, not merely arising from the occupation and status of a social worker.

This ruling ignited anger in the social work community, raising concerns that they might easily bear criminal responsibilities in the future, which could exacerbate the drain of social work manpower. Several social work groups recently protested in front of the Executive Yuan, stating that the state alone holds the position of guarantor for children's survival rights, and pressure should not be pushed down to grassroots social workers. The state should formally apologize and face the fact that the system failed to catch the child.

In a symposium held with the social work community yesterday, Deputy Minister Lu Chien-te, who chaired the meeting, discussed the guarantor position today with representatives from the Ministry of Justice, Judicial Yuan, and legal experts.

He explained in a media telephone interview after the meeting that in order to provide substantial protection for frontline professionals, the Ministry of Health and Welfare is considering referring to the spirit of the 'Medical Care Act' to amend the 'Social Workers Act.' In the future, social workers will only need to bear civil and criminal liability if they have intent or negligence and violate their duty of care and the scope of professional discretion. The goal is to propose this 'within this year, during the next legislative session.'

Lu Chien-te frankly admitted that during the meeting, the legal circle did not reach a definitive conclusion on whether the guarantor position applies to social workers, believing that judgments still need to be made based on specific cases and scenarios.

Therefore, the meeting discussed the study of a professional review mechanism to clarify the behavioral boundaries of individual cases. Lu Chien-te stated that in the future, comparing to current judicial psychiatric evaluations, a review and appraisal mechanism for the social work profession will be established to provide professional opinions during judicial trials. After all, the clients of social work services are mostly highly vulnerable groups, and environmental variables are extremely high.

Since related measures involve frontline social workers, Lu Chien-te said that subsequent plans include organizing regional symposiums in the North, Central, South, and East regions to collect frontline opinions, strengthen the policy feedback mechanism, and further establish guidelines involving various social work service areas through the three departments and one administration under his jurisdiction. (Editor: Lung Po-an) 1150424

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