– Manickchand tables bill
The government plans to set up a Childcare and Protection Agency to oversee the creation of care facilities for vulnerable children, supervise homes and closely monitor adoptions.
The new agency will also be tasked with providing counselling and basic services for children in need of care and protection, including those under special vulnerabilities, like orphans, children infected with or affected by HIV and children with mental or physical disabilities.
These are among the provisions in the Childcare and Protection Agency Bill 2008, which was tabled by Minister of Human Services Priya Manickchand in the National Assembly yesterday. The long-awaited legislation caters for the establishment of the new agency and outlines its duties and composition as well as the guiding principles relating to children before the courts or other any other authority.
The bill states that the agency will have responsibility for the implementation of policy and decisions in relation to laws governing children. In this regard, falling within the ambit of the agency will be childcare and development services, foster homes and voluntary organisations; the status of children; the adoption of children; protection of children; and custody, contact, guardianship and maintenance of children.
As set out in the bill, the functions of the agency are wide, ranging from the direct provision of basic services to monitoring, training and public education.
According to the bill, the agency will be responsible for providing and maintaining child care centres and other facilities for children in need of care and protection with due regard to prescribed standards and requirements. (It will also be responsible for licensing and registering private facilities and to ensure their compliance with standards and regulations.) It will also place children in foster homes or orphanages, supervise foster children and their parents and promote prescribed standards and requirements for children in facilities to ensure their best development.
The agency is also charged with promoting good parenting education, parental responsibility and practices and is to assess applications for foster care, guardianship and adoption and make recommendations and provide assistance to courts and other authorities involved in determining such applications. In cases where the actions or conduct of a person have resulted in or are likely to give rise to abuse of a child, the agency is to make timely intervention.
It is also to investigate allegations or complaints of abuse or neglect and to provide services for the recovery and rehabilitation of children who have suffered abuse. Further, it will coordinate and monitor activities of other persons, including non-governmental organisations engaged in the management of cases of child abuse and neglect and to take action against any private person or organisation to ensure the safety and well-being of children.
The agency will also be responsible for promoting the rights of the child, liaise with regional and international organisations in matters relating to the welfare of children and make proposals and recommendations on the enactment and improvement of laws in this vein.
The bill also seeks to ensure that the courts or any other authority hold the welfare of the child as “paramount” in all matters relating to his/her upbringing, the administration of property or income.
It stipulates that in determining any question, consideration should be given to the “ascertainable wishes and feelings” of the child, taking into consideration the child’s age and capacity to understand the issue. Further consideration should be given to the child’s physical, emotional and educational needs; the likely effects of any changes of the child’s circumstances; the age, sex and background of the child; any harm or injury the child has suffered, or is likely to suffer; or the capacity of the child’s parents, guardians or other persons involved in the care of the child in meeting the needs of the child.
It also states that in all matters relating to a child, whether before a court or any other authority, regard is to be given to reaching a conclusion without undue delay in order to ensure that the welfare of the child is not prejudiced or adversely affected by it. Another key protection is the provision for privacy of the child in all proceedings.
The agency will be staffed by a director and other officers. The director is to be appointed by the Human Services Minister, who will also have power to give the agency general and binding direction relating to the performance of its functions and in particular on issues that affect government policy.
Meanwhile, the Trade Union Recognition (Amend-ment) Bill 2008–to amend the substantive act–and the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2008–for the postponement of local government polls until next year–were also tabled yesterday.
