Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an pledged a full review of the city's child-protection system after a 10-year-old girl in a molestation case went 240 days without being placed in care. A National Audit Office report found that 303 child-protection reports in Taipei had missed their processing deadlines as of the end of August last year, PTS reported.
What did the audit find? The audit found that nearly 20% of child-protection reports in Taipei were invalid and that screening and assigning cases still relied mainly on manual judgment. The city had not adopted the intelligent decision-support mechanism set out in a central government plan.
How has Chiang responded? Chiang said his Facebook post had "made it very clear" that the city felt deep heartache and sorrow over the case, and that the systems and mechanisms for child protection "definitely have room to do better." The post had drawn criticism for offering no apology and for sidestepping the central questions, PTS reported. Chiang said the city would review the system and patch possible loopholes, and that he would ask units including the Department of Social Welfare to examine where the mechanisms and rules could be improved.
How have other politicians responded? Former president 
Tsai Ing-wen had earlier posted a message expressing sorrow and calling for a review of the social safety net, saying she did not want frontline workers' efforts oversimplified or the child's ordeal reduced to political finger-pointing, PTS reported. Hsu Shu-hua, a Democratic Progressive Party city councillor, said every case had to be reviewed to establish whether the protection mechanism had many loopholes that needed filling. Puma Shen, the party's candidate for Taipei mayor, said the post still signalled between the lines a view that the city government had already acted, which he said was not the answer people wanted to hear. Shen, who has signed an agreement to take part in a televised debate, named child abuse as the most important and urgent issue, the Liberty Times reported.
What does the social welfare department say? Ou Chia-chun, a secretary at the department, said professional staff assess and triage each report based on its content and on information about the child's safety and family risks. The department said Taipei handles child-protection cases according to regulations and procedures and imposes penalties where violations are clearly established. Some cases involving other laws or judicial proceedings stay under monitoring after administrative investigations finish so that court outcomes can be followed, which the department said does not mean those investigations are overdue.
Figures referenced: Tsai Ing-wen. — JudgeMarket.
