Experts talk about minor children of prisoners
Detailed policies should be introduced for different types of children
In recent years, the special group of minor children of prisoners has received more and more social attention.
Parents are inside the high wall, some of them become de facto "orphans", but they do not meet the definition of "orphans" and cannot enjoy the corresponding social assistance. Many children have been left unattended, living in difficulties, education and medical resources The state of absence, discrimination and exclusion.
In 2019, twelve ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued the "Opinions on Further Strengthening the Protection of Factually Unsupported Children", which clearly included minor children of prisoners who were in fact unsupported in the scope of protection, and proposed that the civil affairs department should perform Responsibilities of the competent authority.
Focusing on the status quo and policies of this group, a reporter from the Beijing News interviewed Zhang Liu, director of the Child Welfare and Protection Research Center of China Philanthropy Research Institute, Beijing Normal University, and Wang Junjian, a professor at the School of Social Sciences of Henan Normal University.
Comprehensive and continuous statistics are the basis for policy making
Beijing News: Regarding the size of children of minors of prisoners, there is only one figure released by the Ministry of Justice in 2006. As of the end of 2005, the total number of this group in my country exceeded 600,000.
Can you introduce the latest size of this group?
Wang Junjian: Statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that as of the end of 2005, among the 1.56 million detainees serving sentences in various types of prisons in my country, about 30% have minor children, and a certain percentage of prisoners have more than one child.
According to the China Statistical Yearbook, by the end of 2018, the number of detainees in my country was approximately 1.8 million. Based on the above ratio, we estimate that by the end of 2018, there were approximately 690,000 minor children of prisoners.
The Beijing News: Does the statistical work of minor children of prisoners still need to be refined?
Zhang Liu: If we want children's problems to be discovered and resolved, comprehensive and continuous data is very important.
With data, we can see the condition of the children, know what kind of system design we need to provide, and evaluate whether the children's problems have been improved.
At present, it is not just the minor children of prisoners who lack regularly published statistical data. To start with, the data related to children is also relatively lacking.
To do a good job of statistics on children, we first need to establish a statistical caliber, such as men and women, age, and classification before proceeding to the next step of data analysis.
Now more emphasis is placed on big data, and convincing decisions can be made only through objective evidence-based.
Beijing News: According to data from the Ministry of Justice in 2006, 90% of the minor children of prisoners did not receive any social assistance. What about now?
Wang Junjian: The overall situation still needs more investigation, and there are some figures for reference.
At present, the number of this group is expected to exceed 600,000, but there are only a dozen private non-profit organizations specializing in the rescue and protection of this group in the country, and the capacity is relatively limited.
Take a relief agency in Xinxiang, Henan, for example, which can only take care of 70-80 children.
Although the civil affairs department has a minor rescue and protection center and a child welfare home, it is not only for this group. The number of nurtures that can be provided is difficult to estimate.
A large number of underage children of prisoners are still scattered in the community and taken care of by relatives.
From what we have observed, if there are grandparents and relatives of the parents who are willing to assume the responsibility of guardianship, then the child's living conditions should be said to be guaranteed.
Group characteristics: psychological trauma, inevitable social label
The Beijing News: You mentioned that there are mainly two types of parenting for the minor children of prisoners in a centralized institution and scattered in the family. How do you evaluate these two forms?
Zhang Liu: Family parenting is the best for children's physical and mental development.
my country has a family foster care system. For rural left-behind children or minor children of prisoners, it is preferred to recommend entrusted guardianship, that is, the child's relatives or people around them assume guardianship.
But centralized parenting is also necessary, and the state must ensure that the child has a place to settle when there is nowhere to go.
Because children belong to the family first, but ultimately belong to the country.
The centralized parenting institutions managed by the civil affairs department are the children's welfare homes and uninsured centers. They have venues and professionals who can provide professional care for some factually unsupported orphans, including minor children of prisoners.
Wang Junjian: The care of the family and the spiritual strength it brings to the children are difficult for relief agencies to provide.
We have been calling for the family to do what the family can do to help children. The government can provide support or subsidies to the family.
Those who can be raised in the community are raised in the community. Living in the original environment is conducive to the growth of children.
There is really no way. The country has come to find out, but centralized parenting institutions are not suitable for permanent residence. It is just a simple transition.
In fact, we sometimes use family-like raising methods in centralized assistance agencies. For example, in a project in Henan, we also set up the roles of "father" and "mother", and simulate the family through role-playing. But this is still different from the original family.
The most different point is that the two roles of parents are held by female social workers.
This is also done to reduce the risk of child abuse incidents.
Beijing News: What is special about the group of underage children of prisoners?
Wang Junjian: Two characteristics are more obvious, one is psychological trauma.
In centralized rescue agencies, there are more children whose parents are criminal offenders. These children may have witnessed violent behavior, and they have a high probability of psychological trauma.
The other is social labeling.
Because his parents have committed criminal acts and were forced to restrict their personal freedom. For children, this label cannot be escaped, and it is different in the eyes of the public.
Beijing News: How to provide targeted assistance?
Zhang Liu: Psychological problems are difficult to solve. Many children have difficulty communicating with their relatives, let alone with an outsider.
How to make a child willing to speak the truth and give him the correct guidance according to the path of the child’s psychological development requires precise services based on specific circumstances.
This puts forward professional requirements for the psychological counseling team, and requires professional forces to continue to invest in this work for a long time.
Wang Junjian: We have participated in a relief project in Henan. In that children's orphanage, only the dean and the leaders of the civil affairs department knew that the children's parents were prisoners. No one else knew that it was just an ordinary orphanage.
This approach should be said to minimize the impression of labeling.
It is recommended to introduce detailed policies for different types of children
The Beijing News: In the process of helping this group, what is the relationship between government departments and social organizations?
Zhang Liu: Child welfare and security work is mainly the responsibility of the government, but the government cannot do everything and is not suitable for it. Social organizations are a very important supplement. The two are complementary.
Professional services, including one-on-one understanding, analysis, return visits, and establishment of trust relationships for children, can be done by social organizations. The government needs to regulate and guide these organizations and institutions through system design and management. For example, strengthening qualification management and setting up regulations on prohibiting employment in the field of child assistance.
Wang Junjian: The government is responsible for policy formulation and resource allocation. For specific practices in a certain field, it is best for professionals to do professional things.
Part of the relief work can be handed over to the market and part to specialized social groups and social organizations. In the end, the government must take care of it, and the government will do what no one does.
Beijing News: Is the current government's protection policy for this group adequate?
Zhang Liu: In recent years, my country has issued many child protection policies, such as the 2016 State Council’s opinions on left-behind children and children in need, and the 2019 Ministry of Civil Affairs and other twelve ministries’ opinions on factual unsupported children, etc. However, children at the national level The guarantee policy is still low.
You can compare it with the number of pension policies.
In fact, there are actually many small categories of children who are unsupported. Both parents are severely disabled, seriously ill, serving a sentence, compulsory isolation, etc. Different types of children have different needs and should be different in system design. For example, Children of prisoners need psychological assistance, and disabled children need rehabilitation assistance.
Beijing News: What is the ideal level of policy protection?
Zhang Liu: I believe that the ideal state is that children of different types and needs can be issued corresponding clear policies.
Just like the "Rehabilitation Assistance System for Disabled Children" issued by the State Council in 2018, it is clear that the target of assistance is rehabilitation assistance for disabled children, and it has also set goals to be achieved in different years.
In addition, child protection work also requires more financial protection, which is a work that requires long-term financial investment.
Can the funding for children’s work be included in a separate budget category?
my country's education investment has a clear proportion, accounting for 4% of GDP every year.
Can children also have a clear proportion of their funding?
Beijing News reporter Han Qinke