The Department of Social Work of USJ hosted the “First Roundtable Meeting on Child Protection”
The Department of Social Work of USJ hosted the "First Roundtable Meeting on Child Protection"
29
Apr
29/04/2022
The First Roundtable Meeting on Child Protection, organised by the Cradle of Hope Association and hosted by Department of Social Work at the University of Saint Joseph (USJ), was held at Ilha Verde Campus on the morning of 29 April.
Child protection is not a one-person job but requires the collaboration of the whole community. The First Roundtable on Child Protection, organised by the Cradle of Hope Association and hosted by Department of Social Work at the University of Saint Joseph (USJ), was held at Ilha Verde Campus on the morning of 29 April. The roundtable invited the director of the Children and Youth Affairs Department of the Social Welfare Bureau, Ms. LAO Kit Im, and representatives from the residential homes and youth outreach service units.
The roundtable was opened by Ms. Marjory, Director of the Cradle of Hope Association, explaining the objectives of the roundtable to the participants. The Vice-Rector of the University of Saint Joseph, Prof. Zhang Shuguang welcomed the Division Head of the Children and Youth Service Division at the Social Welfare Bureau, Ms. Lao Kit Im, representatives of NGOs, professors, and students from the Department of Social Work of USJ. He also thanked everyone for their trust in USJ, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. USJ is also looking forward to the University’s future role as a resource center for the Government in implementing related services as a basis for supporting their work. At the roundtable, we were grateful to have Professor Helen Liu, Research Coordinator for the Faculty of Social Sciences and Education USJ. Mr. Ben Cheang, Lecturer of the department of Innovative Social Work, City University of Macau. To share “Promoting the Quality of Parent-Child Relationship in Residential Childcare in Macao: Implication for Practice and Policy” and “Suggested Key Content for Setting up Child Protection Policy in the Operation of Social Services for Children and Youth.” Professor Helen Liu shared the result of empirical research to examine the perceptions of parents, residential home workers, and children on visits and parent-child relationships during admission to residential homes.
Mr. Ben Cheng shared the 4 P’s (People, Place, Program & Procedure) as the core of the work of residential services. Such as NGOs should consider to request “Police Clearance” in staff recruitment procedure, the establishment of a complaint mechanism for service users, and the roles and procedures in emergency cases.
Moreover, children’s physical and psychological developmental needs should be considered in different areas of social services, such as residential homes, outreach programs, schools, and family services. In the roundtable meeting, the director of the SKH Macau Social Service – Ms. Apple Siu, the director of YMCA (Villa Lok Tou)- Ms. Edith Un. The executive director of the Christian New Life Fellowship – Mr. Lao Chin Soi, and the representative of the UGAMM Youth Service Team – Mr. Kong Weng Tai, were invited to share on the topic of “Protection for Children and Adolescent: Practice in Residential Service” and “Prevention of Abuse and Protection for Children and Adolescent: Practice in Outreaching Service.”
In summary, panel of the round table agreed to the following recommendations collated by Professor Helen Liu: (1) policymakers and practitioners should discuss short-term and long-term goals, implement assessments of the quality of visits and parent-child relationships, and establish a framework for reunification; (2) consider psychosocial support programs based on evidence-based research to provide emotional support and education; and (3) shift from a ‘child-centered’ to a ‘child and family-centered approach on promoting parenting skills, mental health, and working with parents to guide them in enhancing their parent-child relationships; (4) NGOs set up a working group to draft service guidelines for child service programs in a collaborative effort with the government.
In conclusion, Ms. Marjory hopes that we can build up a partnership between government departments and social service institutes through this roundtable meeting. Creating a safe environment for children in Macau, formulating policies to protect children in Macau, raising the awareness of Macau citizens about child protection, and implementing “Protecting Children is Everyone’s Responsibility.”
The co-organizers of the meeting include the Department of Social Work at the University of Saint Joseph, the Department of Innovative Social Work at the City University of Macau, Caritas Macau, UGAMM Youth Service Team, Good Shepheard Centre, Macau International Ladies Club, Christian New Life Fellowship (in Macau), Sheng Kung Hui Macau Social Services Coordination Office, , Young Men’s Christian Association of Macau- Vila Lok Tou and La De Jovens de Mong-Ha.
View all photos here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzMBNX
