Stakeholders’ Experiences on the Case Determination Committee in the Child Care System

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the case determination committee, whose establishment in every Si-Do and Si-Gun-Gus has been made mandatory since June 31st, 2021, and to devise measures to improve its system to guarantee the best interests of the child. A Focus Group Interview was conducted five times with the stakeholders in the child case system, such as case determination committee members, the directors of the child care team, and child care officials. The key findings are as follows. First, the stakeholders of the child care system consider that the case determination committee performs formal as well as procedural and practical functions for the best interests of the child. Second, as for the qualifications of the committee members, they value professionalism in the field of child care the most. Third, it was found that some improvements are needed in several matters, including conducting internal case management meetings, preparing review documents for the committee meetings, and proceeding with the committee meetings. Based on these findings, this study proposed the clarification of the functions (roles) of the committee, the revision of the contents of on-the-job training for the directors of the child care team and the child care officials, the development of curriculum for the committee members, the consideration of the inclusion of the general public as well as parties in composing committee members, and making guidelines for operating the committee meetings.