I. Social Administration Organizations

　　Our department is in charge of the administration of national social welfare. In addition to the Department of Social Affairs, which is in charge of social welfare, relief, insurance, and the planning, execution, guidance, and supervision of interfacing with private groups, we did also establish the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Committee in 1997 and Domestic Violence Prevention Committee in 1998, which merged with the former in July of 2002. In November of 1999, the Children’s Bureau was established to provide welfare services for children and youth.

　

II. Social Welfare

1. Child and Youth Welfare

　　Responding to other nations’ efforts to provide children with needed welfare, the Taiwan’s “Child Welfare Act” and “Youth Welfare Act” were merged into the “Child and Youth Welfare Act” in order to further protect\ children and youth’s rights.

　　The total population of children and youth in Taiwan is about 5 million, which is 21.8% of Taiwan’s entire population. The birth rate is dropping around the world, including Taiwan. The purpose of Taiwan’s child and youth welfare policies is to ensure that each child and youth can be happy, safe, and healthy during their development. Our key important tasks are to:

(1) Establish complete laws regarding children and youth welfare: Despite the active implementation of the Child and Youth Welfare Act that was formulated in 2003, there were still insufficiencies. We thus effected amendments regarding “child adoptions”, “child protection”, “media classification”, “children’s privacy” and “organization management”. Currently a draft of the amendments for Children and Youth Welfare Act (serial no. 0960840309) has been formulated and submitted to the Executive Yuan for review.

(2) Provide children and youth with living assistance: In order to help young parents or minority families take care of their children and youth, for each child or youth per month in low income families and NT$1,400 ~ NT$1,800 for each child or youth in middle and low-income families in which parents are unable to take care of the family due to death, serious illness, parent(s) missing, disabilities, or prison terms.

(3) Establish complete day-care networks

① Conduct our community babysitter support system: We have helped 24 county/ municipal governments to create 46 supervisory support systems. 47,843 individuals were assisted in getting babysitter licenses between 1998 and 2007. Our department duly notified them in July of 2007 and January of 2008 via mail to encourage them to enter without delay into their local babysitter support systems.

② Give out preschool education coupons: We subsidize each child who is 5 years of age with NT$10,000 per year to study in private kindergartens and we thus helped 138,129 children in 2007.

③ Provide early childhood education for five year olds from minority groups: Working with the Ministry of Education, our department helps children in minority groups who are at least five years of age to go into private kindergartens. Children from families that have an annual income of less than NT$300,000 can study in public kindergartens for free, and those who gain entrance into private kindergartens are given an incentive equal to the amount received by those who obtain admission into public kindergartens. Five-year olds from families that have an annual income between NT$300,000 and NT$600,000 are allowed to study in public kindergartens for free, and those who get into private kindergartens are subsidized for NT$20,000 each year. 57,207 children were thus helped in 2007.

④ Support aboriginal children for kindergarten education: Those who study in public kindergartens are subsidized at NT$5,000 per year, and NT$20,000 for those in private kindergartens. 2,028 such children were assisted in 2007.

⑤ Subsidize day-care for children in low-income families: We assist 3 year olds from low-income families who go into public or private day-care centers with NT$12,000 per year and 4,335 such children were subsidized in 2007.

⑥ Establish public and private kindergartens: We have actively assisted day-care centers to register with the government. By the end of 2007 we had registered 6,839 such centers to accommodate 253,084 children.

⑦ Integrate programs: The Executive Yuan duly decided in July of 2005 that our department would be in charge of daycare centers or babysitting tasks for children below the age of 2. Daycare centers that accommodate children between the ages of 2 and 6 are temporarily called “kindergartens” and are managed by the MOE. Working with MOE, our department has formulated the draft of “Early Childhood Education and Care” that was reviewed and passed on May 16, 2007, however it has been returned subsequently to the Legislative Yuan, which did not continue to review this draft. We are currently conducting additional meetings regarding this project and are also working on follow-up tasks.

(4) Create complete early treatment systems for children with developmental delay problems

① We have assisted 25 local governments to establish appropriate referral and case management information systems.

② We are actively helping daycare centers to accommodate children with developmental delays, conducting relevant guidance throughout Taiwan, and providing house-call services for these children in order to improve our early treatment system.

③ Conduct early treatments for children with developmental delays: We are helping local governments improve referral services and are also conducting house-call treatments and relevant programs in kindergartens. To facilitate these treatments, each child with a developmental delay is subsidized for NT$3,000 per month, and those in low-income families are given NT$5,000 per month.

(5) Medical subsidies for children and youths

① We provide medical assistance to disadvantaged children and youths and also those from low-income and weak children and youths: We are helping with their health insurance and hospitalization charges. Thus we assisted 117,908 person- times by the end of 2007.

② We provide medical subsidies for children under the age of 3 with 13,095,243 person-times being subsidized by the end of 2007.

③ Conduct medical subsidies for children under the age of 3 who are in middle-and low-income families and we thus subsidized 16,274 such person-times by the end of 2007.

(6) Protection for children and youth who are from minority groups or who are abused

① Active promotion and implementation of children and youth protection: We established the private-organization based “113” 24-hour hotline for women and child protection in 2001.

② Service to At-Risk-Families Program: This Ministry is developing case screening criteria and offering preventive intervention for children at risk of abuse or neglect. 23 local governments were assisted in 2007, and these efforts involved 65 private groups and 152 community social workers. As of now, 28,407 families have been screened or visited and 21,428 of them are on long-term assistance with our intervening in the cases of 38,131 children.

③ Emergency living assistance for children and youth from minority groups has been implemented since May 29, 2006. 70% of the funding needed is provided by the central government, with local governments handling the rest. By the end of 2007, 16,120 families were assisted, 29,024 children/youth were looked after, 57,255 home visits were conducted by social workers, 7,783 received assistance as high-risk families, and 1,755 children were referred to the child-abuse protection system.

④ Increase the number of social workers for child protection:320 social workers were assigned to local governments, and 40% of the relevant personnel expenditure is subsidized by the central government.

(7) Start and implement welfare services for children and youth from minority groups

① We commenced the “Assistance for Children and Youth Raised by Grandparents, Single-parents, or Aboriginal Families” program: We have helped local governments to visit children or youth in this kind of family in order to solve domestic problems and reduce juvenile misconduct. By 2007, we had provided NT$29,159,000 to conduct 82 projects that helped 69,378 person-times.

② We conducted the “Assistance for Children and Youth in Families with Foreign Spouses”: In order to help foreign spouses who have language or cultural problems that may affect their marriages or child-rearing styles, we are helping local governments to work with private groups and to hold workshops and activities for these spouses. It is our wish that through visitations, schoolwork assistance, developmental groups, workshops, and seminars, these foreign spouses (including those from China) and their children can adapt well in Taiwan. Cities and counties were subsidized in 2007 with 31 projects that cost NT$21,491,500.

③ We are also conducting the “Preschool Services for Children Raised by Foreign Spouses or Minority Parents” project: In order to ensure that children raised by foreign spouses or minority parents can enjoy suffcient preschool education; we have subsidized special groups in order to access daycare centers or libraries and to provide activities such as story-telling, language development and reading guidance. 21 counties and cities were subsidized in 2007 with 50 projects that cost NT$14,392,000.

④ Conduct “Family Mediation Consultation” services: Since 2005, we have worked with the Judicial Yuan, local courts of law, and private groups to conduct “Family Mediation Services or Parents Affected by Divorce” with the intention of helping the couples involved to settle their conflicts. Consultations cover topics such as child custody, visitations, rearing, housing, and asset settlement. The purpose of this program is to help parents maintain positive relationships with their children, communicate peacefully, facilitate negotiations, reduce harm to their children, and to ensure they can develop smoothly despite their parents’ divorce. We have worked with 13 local courts in 2007 and helped 9,635 person-times.

(8) Establishment of Children and Youth Welfare Organizations

① We have formulated the “Standards for Child and Youth Welfare Institutions”, “Permission and Management Regarding Private Child and Juvenile Organizations”, “Credentials and Training Regarding Professionals Working in Child and Juvenile Welfare Organizations” and “Core Training for Professionals Working in Child and Juvenile Welfare Organizations” that serve as the legal basis for local governments in terms of establishing children/youth welfare organizations, conditions, and personnel-related regulations.

② We have assisted in the establishment of 95 child/youth resettlement institutions that accommodate 3,132 children and youths who have been neglected, abandoned, abused, traded, or forced to work in illegal jobs. We have also helped these facilities to improve their hardware and personnel so better services can be provided.

③ We have helped to establish 56 child/youth welfare centers that provide services regarding consultations, referrals, parent education , activities , and recreational programs.

(9) Reinforce Juvenile Crime Prevention Programs

① Youth prevention and guidance services: Besides launching 38 community youth care programs that assisted 3,268 youth, we have also assisted local governments to work with families and schools to provide counseling services for children or youth who have adaptation problems or other hardships. We also provide counseling for high-risk youth who are marginalized, drop-outs, and deviants. 22 programs that helped 440 individuals were conducted in 2007. 35 sessions of the “Care Group for Youth” program were implemented in 2007 and benefited 1,124 individuals. We have also supervised child/youth welfare organizations to help deviant youth resettle; 160 were resettled in 2007.

② We established regulations regarding Internet content, publications, and media that can be accessed by children or youth: Due to the popularity of computers, many young people spend much time on the Internet which is often a channel for them to access pornographic materials or even to get into the sex trade. In order to prevent such ill effects, we have conducted seminars and training camps to help relevant authorities conduct Internet monitoring and random examinations of publications. We are also working with the Government Information Offce concerning content-classifcation efforts and private groups with Internet safety education in order to ensure children and youth will stay away from inappropriate content.

③ Services for teenage pregnancy: We have worked with private groups to establish the “Hotline for Teenage Pregnancy” (0800-257085). Regarding relationships or even teenage pregnancies, we provide visitations, parental counseling, resettlement, medical treatments, adoptions, and day-care services. We have also established the “Assistance for Teenage Pregnancy” website that allows pregnant teenage girls to seek help.

(10) Conducting Child/Youth Sex Transaction Prevention Efforts

① We regularly hold various cross-department meetings of our “children and youth sex transaction prevention conference” and the police department is also working to rescue children or youths working in the sex trade. The 578 individuals rescued by the police in 2007 were investigated while accompanied by designated social workers in order to ensure that their rights were being protected.

② Besides using short flms and media to teach the public about the prevention of child/youth sex transactions, we regularly hold a “children and youth sex trade prevention conference” once every 6 months in order to discuss the effectiveness of our efforts regarding education, rescue, punishments for perpetrators, and resettlements. We are also helping local governments to conduct instruction for children or youths who are involved in sex transactions.

2. Senior Citizen’s Welfare

(1) The Senior Citizens Welfare Act was revised and promulgated by presidential order on January 31, 2007 to meet the structural needs of our aging society and the changing of family relations regarding the needs of senior citizen who require welfare. The newly revised Senior Citizens Welfare Act includes 7 chapters containing 55 articles: General Regulations, Financial Conditions, Services, Welfare Institutions, Protections, Penalty and Bylaws. This revised version is using “Aging in Place” and “Holistic Care” as well as “Continuum Care” as the guiding principle in its development and this revision will thus help us to reach our goal of helping senior citizens maintain their self-respect and independence in their old age. According to the Senior Citizen Welfare Act, the Ministry of the Interior is authorized to promote or modify 13 subordinate laws; 11 of which we completely fnished in 2007.

(2) We are responding to the increasing demand for long-term care caused by the rapid growth of our aging and frail population. With this point in mind, the Executive Yuan has set up “A Ten-Year Plan for promoting the Long-term Care System” providing professional manpower and encouraging private institutions to join its geriatric services. Additionally, private institutions and government would take the responsibility of sustainable financing plans and services, which are focused on needs of assistance in daily living among disabled elders. Long term care management centers in local governments will provide professional evaluations, which relate disabled elders to resources in demand. The services in this project contain eight parts which integrate health and social care including 1.care services (specifcally home care, day care, adult foster home care services); 2.home nursing; 3.community and home rehabilitation; 4.acquiring or renting of assistance equipment and improvement of barrier-free environments at home; 5.meal services for disabled elders; 6.respite care services; 7.transportation services; and 8.long term care institutional services.

(3) We are increasing welfare services for senior citizens meaning that our government is thus actively reinforcing relevant welfare programs. For example: We are now providing in-home care services and family support, along with the formation of networks for the protection of senior citizens. We also are endeavoring to build more open environments and also dwellings for our elderly citizens. These activities are in addition to our policy of offering health and medical care services and institutional services to these people. We are also preparing allowances as well as insurance and in-community care services and social involvement activities for aged members of our society. We are in addition initiating enhanced manpower, training, education and service promotions for these valued and respected members of our societal fabric. All of these activities are intended to take care of senior citizen’s quality of life and also to increase senior citizen’s welfare. On the other hand, in order to enhance supervision and consultations concerning relevant welfare institutions, the Ministry of the Interior and local governments are conducting regular evaluations of these facilities. It is thus our determination to provide warm, peaceful and caring living environments suitable for senior citizens.

(4) In order to assist senior citizens in remote regions to receive various services; to induce more interactions among senior citizens and community residents, to become more concerned about public issues, as well as to understand fully and to participate enthusiastically in all social welfare activities, the Ministry of the Interior has instituted the “Senior Citizen Cultural, Health & Entertainment Mobile Services Implementation Proposal”. All cities and counties are to be subsidized to procure multi-functional, visually appealing and high engine capacity touring vans; such vehicles are to coordinate with regional periodical community service activities, either at local parks or temple entrances. Services provided include: social welfare items, public hygiene enquiries, daily living assistance, cultural activities and health care, as well as promotions of latest governmental policies regarding senior citizens. Considering all of the 18 different cities and counties, which participated in such programs: average sessions equaled around 19-20 per month (depending on prevailing weather conditions) and about 1,200-1,500 persons participated per month. Such is the solid principle of our governmental aggressive determination eagerly to provide services much needed by our people.

(5) In order to practice preventive health care for local senior citizens, the Ministry of Interior promotes an “Establishing Community Care Stations” program. The main strategies involved in this concept are to help to develop local non-profit organizations, to employ resources of local care management centers and to set up stations covering several villages, which can offer diverse services, such as caring and visiting, sending regards by calling, consulting, and meal delivery etc. This service will not only decrease the speed of aging but also eventually develop mutual cooperation within our communities; thus, it will help to create a continual care system. Our various municipal and city/county governments have already established 1590 “Community Care Station” locations since the end of December in 2007. We have set up evaluation standards and roles in order to understand the real conditions of “Community Care Station” in practice. The municipal and city/county governments are assessing these institutions on the spot with the results that there are 378 locations in Class Prior, 905 locations in Class A, 33 locations in Class B, 13 locations in Class C, 9 locations in Class D with 219 locations not yet evaluated due to various factors. The Ministry of the Interior and municipal and city/county governments will provide rewards, guidance and assistance according to these evaluations.

 

(6) To fulfll diverse demands for housing of the elderly given the contemporary aging trend in Taiwan, this Ministry encourages non-governmental entities to participate in construction of houses for senior citizens and these homes are intended to render diverse options for housing and caring to our elderly citizens, so as to standardize housing facilities, make living functions more convenient and services friendlier, industrialize management and administrative procedures, and offer different preferences to participants. After this ”Project of Promoting Non-Governmental Participation in Senior Citizen’s Housing Development” was extant for three years, our review revealed that the project lacked feasibility and necessity. Therefore, this “Project of Promoting Non-Governmental Participation in Senior Citizen’s Housing Development” came to an end by order of the Executive Yuan as of January 4, 2008. Furthermore, to ensure the rights and interests of the non-governmental entities and to avoid disputes regarding investment, as of August 07, 2007 the Ministry of the Interior commenced temporarily rejecting applications for BOT and BOO housing for senior citizens. As for those applications for housing for senior citizens, which are in the process of examination according to article 46 of the Act, responsible departments will continue the relevant process based upon the principle of legitimate expectation.

　

3. Disabled Citizens Welfare

(1) The whole amended text of the “Physically and Mentally Disabled Citizens Protection Act was promulgated on 11, July, 2007, and was renamed as the “Protection Act for Rights and Interests of (Physically and Mentally) Disabled Citizens. All related competent authorities are to work on (enact) the relevant regulations in order to promote the implementation of this Act. It is also the competent authorities’ responsibilities to promote access-free communities and living environments and to assist the disabled in gaining fair opportunities for education, employment, medical treatment and welfare. It also provides home care and community care by working together with the private sector to enhance community day care for the disabled and also to enable them to be well cared for in their communities.

(2) By the end of 2007, we had distributed handbooks for disabled personnel among a total of 1,020,000 people in Taiwan. We also established a computer system for “The Social Administration of Disabled, Senior Citizens and Public Assistance Information” in order to increase the efficiency of our services and to promote safety systems within the ROC economy, in-home care services and family support, community caring, nursery services and disabled-child fostering and also services related to the overall development of society (annual welfare transactions for the disabled are shown in Table 4-3). In addition, our government is vitally concerned with the necessity of providing disabled citizens with day-care services, training help and residential assistance. To this end, we helped to develop and fund 254 welfare institutions for physically and mentally challenged people. We are also providing assistance to these organizations depending on their demands and needs. To achieve our national goal of equal opportunity for all and access to these institutions, each level of governmental authority periodically sponsors physically and mentally disabled citizen’s protection committees to insure that physically and mentally disabled people are guaranteed their legal rights.

(3) To satisfy the demands of diversified care services of physically and mentally disabled citizens, in 2007, we continued two pretest programs - community living for adults with mental disabilities and community day care services to help the private sector to provide, for another year, living care and support services that physically and mentally disabled citizens need. In 2007, in order to help to guide various welfare institutions for the disabled to upgrade service quality and furthermore to assist these welfare institutions and groups for the disabled to transact all kinds of community-care services and home-support services, we developed “The Ambulant Guide to Welfare Institutions for the Disabled Project”.
　　In addition, we will carry on promoting community day care, in-home care services, home-support services and so on to achieve the goal of the promotion of diversifed community welfare facilities and more.

4. Women’s Welfare

　　In order further to comply with budgetary constraints, women’s welfare has been listed as a separate item commencing in 1991. The Executive Yuan formed a “Commission on Women’s Rights Promotion, Executive Yuan” (abbr. as CWRP) in May 1997 to execute relevant policies and afterwards the MOI also established a “Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Committee”, “Foundation of Women’s Rights Promotion and Development”. In addition, this Ministry also established a “women’s welfare section” in DOSW to signify how our government emphasizes women’s welfare and rights.

　　The CWRP has been summoned by the superintendent of the Executive Yuan in order to help with the integration of all women’s policies of related ministries, fulflling functions of policy-development, counseling, supervising and resource-integrating through discussions among subdivision meetings, pre-meetings and committee meetings. For the past fve years, important achievements have been:

(1) We passed our “Women’s Policy Guideline” to promote equal participation and decision-making.

(2) Initiation of “Gender Infuence Evaluation”, promoting gender integration.

(3) Increasing related annual women’s budgets.

(4) We executed a “Program of Gender Mainstreaming for Public Servants of all Agencies and Schools”: Through these efforts, we founded various bases for amicable gender interfacing in Taiwan.

(4) We have also strengthened a three-tiered operational mechanism of CWRP, in order to fulfill individual sub-divisional functions of coordination and liaison for related ministries.

(4) We have designated related ministries to assign gender liaison, and we also have implemented all resolutions regarding gender issues.

(7) Our government has in addition integrated and guided the mechanism of instituting business loans and training for women, to inspire women to start their own business.

(8) We are continuing to support fve programs for community-caring welfare services in order to establish a solid service system in this area.

　　In addition, our government also encourages the establishment of various diversified welfare centers to promote welfare for women by providing multiple topic services including women’s studios, developing activities, lectures, supportive services, to increase social participation opportunities for women as well as promoting the ideology of sexual equality. Specifically, we have been implementing “gender mainstreaming” since 2005. Regarding single parent families, our government provides the following services: single parent child homework guidance, supportive activities, single parent empowerment and single parent case management. Private organizations for females are also being encouraged to volunteer their services for women who are suffering specifed hardships. Various local governments within the ROC also provide counseling, placement services, and protection to help those women to improve their situations. Table 4-4 contains the statistics of services on specified suffering women over the continuum of the previous 5 years.

III. Public Assistance

　　In order to enhance the public assistance system, the Public Assistance Act was enacted and some revised articles of this legislation were promulgated in 2008 by Presidential Order as follows: (1) The number of family members shall be recalculated and the range of lineal relatives comprised therein shall be readjusted—removing the restriction that the applicants may not be counted as a part of the population only when their married children are “unemployed and no income” but instead specifying situations where applicants in financial predicaments when supporting obligation is unfulflled or for other particular reasons shall not be listed as such after visits of assessment are made by the direct authorities of the central city and/or local county (city) governments. (2) In accordance with vocational surveys for the indigenous people promulgated by the authorities of the central government, restrictions on how their salary is calculated shall be lifted based on proportional income comparison between the general public and aboriginal people. (3) Some articles were amended in this Act to exclude the calculation toward the value of real estates of non-urban and unproftable lands of national security, for ecological protection, historical locations, and cemeteries, or unprofitable properties of lands partitioned by Heritage Organizations after their dismissal. (4) Restrictions on applications of requests for emergency relief shall be lifted, bringing them into those of close-but-not-qualified and newly formed low- incomers. Additional items being augmented concern those in predicaments due to failure to access their properties or deposits subject to compulsory enforcement for various reasons and these people are entitled to apply for assistance regarding urgency, enabling the direct authorities of the central city and local county (city) governments to render timely aid after necessary visits of assessment are made.

　　At present, the government aids its low-income nationals with consistent subsidies, emergency relief, and disaster relief, to help them rise above financial struggles. We have devised programs of vocational training, employment services, career development loans, and labor-exchange-for-aid, in order to assist employable individuals in becoming entirely self-suffcient. The number of low-income families was estimated at 90,682, or 220,990 persons as of the end of 2007, making up approximately 0.96 percent of Taiwan’s total population.

　　The various services at each government level for low-income families include: Granting regular and nutritional subsidies to lying-in women and babies, either assigning or renting them reasonable housing, helping them to purchase public housing, the granting of inexpensive daily necessities, providing a living allowance to senior citizens, subsidizing disabled people and children and also providing relevant schooling. On the other hand, we also have programs such as vocational training, employment services, career development loans, and labor-exchange-for-aid measures to help low- income citizens stand on their own feet and to upgrade their working abilities.

　　In order to operate private resources and also to understand relevant laws and regulations governing disaster prevention relief at all levels of government and groups, in 2004 we reinforced the effciencies of relief of disaster victims and we furthermore promoted the quality of these services. Meanwhile, we promulgated a “Notice for Joining Social Disaster Prevention Relief for Combining all Levels of Governments with Groups” and “Operational Guidelines for Strength Regarding Relief of Disaster Victims”. The relevant criteria necessary to implement these measures are initiated by local governments and are registered with the Ministry of the Interior.

　　Meanwhile, we are also assisting these citizens to solve their daily problems by offering emergency relief, disaster relief, medical subsidies and shelters for homeless people.

　

IV. Social Insurance

1. Farmer Health Insurance System

　　The Farmer’s Health Insurance Act was promulgated and enforced in 1989. Farmers covered by this health insurance program are thus entitled to maternity, medical care, disability, and mortuary and burial benefits. All assistances related to medical care were shifted from this program to the National Health Insurance System when “The National Health Insurance Law” was implemented in 1995. The farmer’s health insurance affairs still remain for cash payments while the farmer’s health insurance program covered a total of 287 insuring establishments and 1,601,410 insured people by the end of 2007.

2. National Pension System

　　After a long planning and negotiating process for more than 14 years, the National Pension Act was eventually approved by the Legislative Yuan on July 2007 and promulgated by the president on Aug. 8, 2007, and was scheduled to be carried out on Oct. 1, 2008.

　　The national pension system, which provides monthly pension payments instead of a lump-sum payment, is based on the formula of social insurance. And social insurance is also the system that most countries in the world have adopted. The National Pension System will also become a role model system for the government to amend other social insurance plans to come up with pension payments in the future so more senior citizens will be able to enjoy a satisfactory retirement life.

　　With the national pension system, a total of 4.7 million citizens who are not covered by military insurance, civil servants, teacher, labor insurance and farmer health insurance will be insured upon the enforcement of the Act. Once the national pension system is carried out, the last hole in Taiwan’s social security net will be closed and the National Pension System can then help to construct a well-organized social security system for the country.

　　It is the end goal of the government gradually to replace the “Senior Citizens Welfare Living Allowance” and “Senior Indigenous Citizens Welfare Living Allowance” with the national pension system’s pension payments for senior citizens. Under the new established National Pension System, senior citizens will continue to get their allowances while the younger citizens will be insured by National Pension insurance or other social insurances. Therefore, the welfare allowances for senior citizens, farmers and indigenous people have been combined into the National Pension System insurance, thus relieving the government’s rising fscal burden.

　

V. Civil Organizations

　　Civil organizations of our nation can be divided into three categories: i.e. vocational, social and political groups. While a political party may commence activities after it reports to the authority-in-charge for registration purposes, other civil organizations may not be set up before a given organization’s sponsor obtains prior approval from the relevant social administration agency. Civil organizations are under the jurisdiction of the central government (the MOI) and under social departments of every local government except where specifcally ruled and thus permitted otherwise. However, any given group must also be guided and supervised by the government agency in charge of the business engaged in by this group. In recent years, civil organizations have increased their numbers and expanded their businesses. They have thus made great contributions to the balancing of economic and social development.

　

VI. Cooperative Enterprises

1. Cooperative Enterprises

　　Cooperative enterprises are an important part of our national economic development. The goals of these organizations are to achieve economic targets and to improve living conditions for their members under the concepts of joint management. The Constitution of our nation stipulates that these cooperative enterprises shall be encouraged and supported by the government.

　　Our government actively provides assistance to the forming of cooperative associations, farms, and workshops in accordance with the wishes and practical requirements of the people. The goals of establishing governmental organizations in-charge of cooperative enterprises are: creating beneficial environments and also assuring that these cooperative enterprises operate legally. In addition, we also have the goal of assisting the administration and also the development of cooperative enterprises in order to care for weak groups. (See Table 4-7). The purposes and objectives of cooperative enterprises are as follows:

(1) The critiquing and awarding of cooperative associations, farms and workshops: Based on the regulations concerning cooperative enterprises, we conduct a critique of cooperative enterprises each year. According to the level of criticism at these annual meetings, we decide whether to encourage, adjust or dismiss individual cooperative enterprises.

(2) Managing cooperative organizations and assisting with their fnancial requirements.

(3) Developing educational materials, propaganda and audits concerning cooperative enterprises.

(4) It is our strong goal to establish managerial functions of cooperative associations, farms and workshops, and also to establish a comprehensive system to coordinate cooperative enterprises, to emphasize assistance among government agencies and cooperative enterprises and fnally, to establish viable brand images of cooperative enterprises in order to interact with international organizations.

　　

　　In the year 2007, we subsidized 206 cooperative enterprises in their pursuit of a more organized enterprise, their acquisition of new facilities, or in supporting their business expansions. We have also carefully maintained the Cooperative Enterprises Database Management System, kept it functioning properly, and entered significant amounts of non-digital past data into the database, held or assisted holding enough cooperative management training sessions to accommodate 12,500 attendants, and audited 37 cooperative enterprises.

　　We will continue to work on a new Cooperative Act, to launch “More Care and Service Labor Cooperative Enterprises” programs to propagate and realize the policy of integrating our Care and Service Social Welfare and Industrial Development, and to promote the participation of the cooperative enterprises in the Community Development/Construction Plan.

2. Credit Unions

　　Credit unions are bottom-line financial organizations. They are composed both of various people and non-proft organizations on self-help bases. The goals in these cases are to encourage savings and to meet client’s financial needs by providing reasonable loan rates to the organization’s members. We have made great contributions to raising member’s social statuses and to improving their fnancial situations as well as in reducing the disadvantages produced by illegal lending organizations. In 1997, we promulgated a “Credit Union Act” and This Act was amended in 2000, declaring offcially that the Ministry of Interior be its supervisory administrative entity; and in 2002 again, adding that “A Credit Union is a Legal Person/ Corporation”, “A Credit Union member shall enjoy a tax exemption of up to 1 million NT dollars invested” and a number of other important matters like the renaming process of the credit union properties. In the year 2007, our main task is to help carrying out staff training, add up to 15 classes, 2,208 members, dividing relevant activities into 15 areas to hold a celebration of International Credit Union Day with more than ten thousand members and friends attending.

VII. Community Development and Volunteer Services

　　Community development has led to signifcant results after thirty-nine years. Until 2007, 6,402 Community Development Organizations had been established continually to implement progress in three main directions: public community facilities, productive welfare, the cohesion of community consciousness, and the deliverance of welfare services in our communities. Our government has extended this coverage to children, teenagers, women, and senior citizens, disabled and poor citizens in the community. On the other hand, our government is also devoted to strengthening neighborhood mutual help functions, to promoting the quality of life in the community and to attaining a peaceful and harmonious society.

　　Major tasks under community development programs are as follows: to train basic community administrators and various other community personnel in promotional activities to increase recognition and awareness about community empowerment; to provide community evaluation activities and to encourage interaction and mutual learning among performance communities, to attract people to participate; to cultivate among people the concept of social responsibility; to set up mutual trust relationships and to shape consciousness of citizenship and values of a civil society.

　　We promulgated and enforced a “Volunteer Service Act” in 2001. According to this legislation, our government is educating the public in the concept of “Those who give assistance have better luck than those who receive it, and those who offer are happier than those who take”. The Ministry of the Interior carries on the plan “Peace and Harmony Program: Integrating Volunteer Efforts for Promotion of Social Welfare Tasks” continuously with the hope that volunteer services can be implemented in a systematic manner. Major tasks under this program this year are as follows:

• To increase recognition and awareness about volunteering;
• To launch a series of publicity campaigns for the development of a program devoted to peace and harmony;
• To develop volunteer service networks;
• To evaluate volunteer programs to honor outstanding volunteers and voluntary service groups;
• To hold a national volunteer service for social welfare meetings;
• Finally: to sponsor volunteer education and training programs.

　

VIII. Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Prevention

　　As indicated from the survey of the Ministry of the Interior, there were about 17 cases of sexual harassment complaints monthly received by each of the relevant authorities in 2007, with a 13% increase against that of the year 2006. As for cases of sexual assault, the police authorities have, as an average, received about 283 criminal cases of sexual assault, with a 5% increase against that of the year 2006. For cases of domestic violence, reported cases to each municipal or county (city) government have, as an average, amounted to 6,051 cases per month, with a 9% increase against that of year 2006, showing the trend that the general public is becoming more inclined to resorting to public authorities for issues of personal safety (see Table 4-9 and Table 4-10). As such, we can see that the establishment of comprehensive

service networks for personal safety is of the greatest urgency, and the comprehensive protective measures that safeguards personal safety shall be provided as follows:

1. Strengthen Network Function for Prevention

(1) Strengthen organization function, balance the gap between rural and urban areas
　　We implemented “Facilitation of local governments to realize the supervisory plan regarding domestic violence and sexual assault prevention in 2007”. For areas that are diffcult to facilitate concerning the work of domestic violence and sexual assault prevention, the supervisory team is made responsible to assist and evaluate the quality of prevention networks of each county (city). In addition, we are developing substantial objectives for improvement and related strategies in view of the individual hindrance factors to the promotion of prevention work. In 2007, there are four counties (cities) such as Hualien County, Taichung County, Pingtung County, and Changhua County that took part in this project.

(2) Establishment of evaluation mechanisms
　　We are implementing on-site assessment of prevention activities against domestic violence, sexual assault, and sexual harassment by each municipality or county (city) in 2007 in order to appreciate and further to understand the actual administrative personnel dealing with these situations; with those people who perform well to be rewarded while those who need improvement will be assisted with guidance, working in conjunction with supervisory plans so as to enhance the quality of the prevention work.

(3) Efficient enhancement of database information system for domestic violence and sexual assault prevention
　　We have completed the integration of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Children- Juvenile Protection Information System, and we have also completed the expansion of case management functions regarding physical and mental therapy for sex offenders and protection assistance to the victims. We expect this action gradually to help render, within this system, digitalization of complete case information related to victims. Thus, this information can assist in providing for policy analyses and reference for project studies.

(4) We are assisting the administration of each municipal or county (city) government to hire additional manpower for social work.
　　The project “subsidy to municipal or county (city) government to hire additional social workers for domestic violence and sexual assault prevention” has been approved by the Executive Yuan, and relevant regulations regarding manpower hiring have been loosened. In 2007, formal applications were received from 20 of the 24 municipal or county (city) governments (no addition manpower is needed in Lienchiang County), while 122 social workers are approved for subsidy. In addition starting in 2005 an additional 45 social workers were awarded with subsidies for hiring upon the application of subsidy item funding to facilitate social welfare and additional out- contract social manpower items for local governments.

(5) We are also sponsoring sexual harassment prevention seminars.
　　In order to establish sexual harassment prevention networks, to resolve diffculties regarding practical functioning of these networks and in order combine common objectives of these groups, we are actively conducting topical speeches, case sharing, small group discussions, evaluation by various experts and scholars to enhance the knowledge and effectiveness of members dealing with incidents of sexual harassment. We are also thus facilitating such dialogs and staff cooperation mechanisms of sexual harassment prevention networks. On the 6th and 14th of November of 2007, we conducted practice seminars regarding sexual harassment in Taipei and Kaohsiung, with 182 network members taking part in this meeting.

2. Realization of Protection Assistance for Victims

(1) Supervise municipal or county (city) governments to provide related protective measures to victims
　　In 2007, we assisted a total of 325,668 victims of domestic violence, while the subsidy money awarded to them reached NT$197,115,761. A total of 70,823 people have received help regarding protective measures provided to victims of sexual assault, while an amount of NT$52,053,691 in subsidies was awarded.

(2) Establishment of 113 centralized hotline centers for the protection of women and children
　　In order to cope with the “e concern project” as approved by the Executive Yuan, this Ministry has, starting from 1st September of 2007, established 113 women and children protection (abbreviated as 113) centralized hotline centers, which assist municipal or county (city) governments to receive 113 phone calls while providing report and consultation services to child protection, domestic violence, and sexual assault cases countrywide. We are in addition strengthening the recording system of women and children protection hotlines while also improving supervisory systems and relevant equipment of the reception stations to improve the accountability of those personnel who receive calls; meanwhile, we are further providing real-time supervisory support for reception personnel in order to enhance the service quality of 113. A total of 365,387 phone calls were received in 2007.

(3) Guide the local governments to set up domestic violence service centers residing at district courts
　　In order to help expand the services of the prevention centers against domestic violence and sexual assaults in each municipal and county (city), we are assisting civilian groups to join with professional non-profit organizations to set up domestic violence service centers at district courts. By the end of 2007,we had set up 18 such centers, while as many as 82,925 people received such services.

(4) Develop professional tools for protective assistance
　　Concomitant with Research on “experimental campus teacher’s counseling teaching plans for children and youngster witness of domestic violence”, we are promoting localized case studies of sexual assault prevention on the mentally disabled for the use and reference of professionals.

(5) Enhance the protective assistance capabilities and relevant knowledge of professionals
　　In 2007, we held relevant educational training in order to enhance the knowledge of protective assistance of professionals, with the result that a total of 18 seminars were held, with 1,600 people trained.

3. Implementation of Educational and Counseling Business

(1) We are strengthening knowledge among the general pubic about domestic violence, sexual assault, and sexual harassment prevention publicity regarding which in 2007
　　There were 1,956 TV broadcasts, 3,798 radio transmissions, 30 surface advertisement, 19 seminars and placement news programs, 3,611,514 outdoor media broadcasts, 177,600 movie theater promotions, and 23,743,846 network broadcasts. In addition, press conferences were held on the nine-year anniversary of the implementation of the Domestic Violence Prevention Act and also for the 113 centralized hotline. Furthermore, 100,000 copies of prevention posters regarding sexual harassment were printed, and subsequently distributed to large-scale companies and enterprises, government authorities, and groups to increase knowledge of the legal provisions of these statutes.

(2) Realize three-tier domestic violence prevention
　　We are st rengthening faci l i tat ion prevention, publicity, and educational work, develop preventive projects for pre-school children as well as pre- marital education projects and also production of publicity movies, and furthermore to sponsor quality news evaluations and screening events on domestic violence, sexual assaults, sexual harassments and child protection.

(3) Strengthen the professional training for treatment personnel dealing with offenders in domestic violence and sexual assault cases
　　We are sponsoring international seminars for the year 2007 on training of treatment personnel and network connections regarding domestic violence offenders, risk classifcation elaborations on domestic violence and context model discussions.

(4) Strengthen service functions of male concern hotline 0800-013-999
　　In order to assist men to face the problems of family confrontations, we established a male concern hotline in June of 2004, which was widely received by the masses. In 2007, 13,735 phone calls were received with 5,697 of them focusing on the needs for specifc problems and referral services plus also providing concern, support, and general counseling.

(5) Experimental Project of the Risk Stratifcation of Domestic Violence Cases
　　We are strengthening screening of risk cases in succession to the fve areas such as Chiayi County (City), Kaohsiung City, Pingtung County and Taitung County in order to promote risk stratifcation projects regarding domestic violence, while also providing appropriate treatment of high-risk cases. In addition, junior-grade police will further increase their visits to offenders, reduce repetitive use of service delivery resources, and enhance the service functions of each prevention network.

4. Strengthen Prevention Functions Related to Violence

(1) Strengthen selection and forensic science and examination works of sexual assault, enhancing examination quality
　　In order to determine whether or not sexual assaults are committed under the influence of intoxicating drugs, we have formulated “evidence collection operations of intoxicating drugs on suspicious sexual assault”, and the evidence collected is sent respectively to Taipei Veterans General Hospital and Kaohsiung Medical University. In 2007, a total of 53 cases were fled.

(2) Continue facilitating sexual assault cases and reduce repetitive statements by the victim
　　We are strengthening the effects of facilitating reduced statement operations, in order to integrate network resources and mechanisms, and further to invite current members of the regional networks (police, social welfare, and prosecutors and justice personnel) as well as scholars and experts to discuss their current work practices and difficulties and thus to put forth recommendations. In addition, we are helping each of the municipal or county (city) governments involved to replace their facilities and equipment with new materials so as to realize both the spirit and idea of protecting victims.

(3) We are producing “audio-visual teaching materials of sexual assault cases on the mentally disabled”
　　To assist networking professionals regarding the emotional development and communication problems of the mentally disabled in sexual assault case, we have produced “audio-visual teaching materials of sexual assault case on the mentally disabled” as an illustrative case study, elaborating the items of attention as one interacts with the emotionally challenged. Furthermore, we are distributing audio-visual DVDs and VCD teaching CDs to provide judges, prosecutors, police personnel, social workers and other network sexual assault prevention professionals with further necessary information.

(4) Sponsor educational training regarding violence prevention
　　We are sponsoring “interrogation skill seminars on sexual assault case,” and holding seven sessions of such seminars in southern, central, and northern areas of Taiwan. As a whole, 615 people from the felds of police, social welfare, and medicine have taken part in these meetings. Also, we are planning and sponsoring “seeding instructor workshops for Domestic Violence Prevention Officers”, and so far a total of 120 professional seeding instructors are in training, while we have also established a database of instructor talent for the use of every expert. Furthermore, 21 sessions of professional training on “Domestic Violence Prevention Offices” were commissioned in each municipal or county (city) and a total of 1,680 people have attended this training.

5. Formulation (modifcation) of Legal Provision and its Research and Development

(1) Modifcation of Domestic Violence Prevention Act
　　To cope with “Domestic Violence Prevention Act” that was promulgated after revision on 28 March, 2007, in September of 2007 we modified and promulgated the “Enforcement Rules for the Domestic Violence Prevention Act”, “Regulation for the Administrative Authorities to Enforce Protection Orders and to Deal With Domestic Violence Cases,” and “Regulations on establishment, management and use of domestic violence electronic database”, making the prevention network even more comprehensive and well structured.

(2) Implement our study on “service evaluation project study on domestic violence incidents residing at district courts”
　　Scholars and experts have been commissioned to collect and analyze the court service mechanisms and projects for parties of domestic violence cases in most of the major countries around the world, and we accordingly are assessing the service model and content of our domestic violence service centers located at the district courts so as to provide for references concerning future policy planning.

6. Review and Prospect

　　In 2008 shall focus on the enhancing of the work volume against domestic violence, sexual assaults, and sexual harassment prevention as our primary aim. The Ministry of the Interior will continue to input resources into prevention work, enrich reasonable manpower to work on domestic violence and sexual assault prevention, and further provide more protective measures for social workers. In addition, we will provide victims with more diversifed channels for assistance, and realize direct services for victims so as to enhance protective effectiveness. In addition, preventive service projects for domestic violence offender are being actively facilitated, while sex offenders in community surveillance mechanisms are bring well recognized. We are furthermore strengthening the functions of therapy and counseling so as effectively to prevent repeated offenses. Also, the Ministry of the Interior shall continue to conduct preventive publicity among the general public, while preventive educational and publicity campaigns will be carried out targeted at specific subjects, attempting to construe such respect and culture for gender equality. Most of all, we will furnish ourselves with comprehensive work protocols on items concerning women and children, strengthening case management of domestic violence cases, sexual assault and sexual harassment, and works of evidence-collection one site as well as evidence security.