Child Protective System and Family Preservation for Children in Need

Abstract

Background and Purpose: The 「Children in Inclusive Nation Policy」, which was launched in Korea in May 2019, is enforcement of the entire process from screening, decision making, case management, and reunification to the original home for all children in need from abuse, poverty, abandonment, etc. under the responsibility of the local government. It aims to fundamentally reorganize the public protection system so that accordingly, the deployment of child abuse officers and child protection officers in across the country, which began in October 2020, were completed at the end of 2021. The purpose of the study is to investigate current states of children who are at risk of out-of-home care and the pathways in which children in need are separated from their original families. Methods: The study reviewed the literature on the current state of government projects and related materials, such as support systems, programs, and manuals for fragile children and families. Also, the study analyzed in-depth interviews on child separation experiences which were conducted with parents of children looked after and Child Abuse Prevention Officials, Child Protection agents and workers in the child protective systems. Results: Results showed that the concepts of ‘children in need’ and ‘children looked after(out of home care)’ was ambiguous, and the statistical information had overlapping causes and limitations in collective management. Also, the government's intervention has been supplier-oriented and ad-hoc response to incidents rather than prevention. The results from the in-depth interviews suggest that causes of the occurrence of children looked after(out of home care) are intertwined with the various and complex problems of the parents and original families. In particular, the parental will to raise them was identified as the more important cause of separation than the ability to raise them. Conclusions and Implications: Based on the research results, laws, policies, and service-related alternatives were proposed to prevent and support the occurrence of children subject to protection. The findings from the study confirmed that child protection procedures were carried out in different procedures depending on the cause of the occurrence. Thus, the study suggested that the roles and responsibilities of the child protection agents should be reinforced and child protection facilities suitable for age, gender and special needs should be expanded.