The new epidemic of pneumonia, the nationwide response to the war, minimized the negative impact of the epidemic. During this period, it is worth paying close attention to the problem of lack of temporary supervision of children caused by the epidemic. On the one hand, children are the hope of the family and the future of the country and society. Protecting the growth and development of children is not only a family obligation but also a social responsibility. On the other hand, in order to cope with the problem of the lack of temporary supervision of children caused by public health incidents in the future, more detailed and operational legal regulations should be formulated in time with current experience. Starting with the concept of dilemma children and the protection of rights and interests, the children with missing temporary custody are included in the category of temporary dilemma children, and the corresponding normative guidelines are established from a legal perspective, with a view to improving the children's rights and interests protection system in public health events.
1. Temporary children in dire circumstances
General Secretary Xi Jinping paid close attention to the children affected by the epidemic. On February 23, 2020, at the conference on overall planning for the promotion of the prevention and control of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic and economic and social development, General Secretary Xi Jinping mentioned in particular that groups such as the lonely elderly, difficult children, severely ill and severely disabled persons and other groups isolated at home due to the epidemic We must strengthen visits and necessary assistance to prevent incidents that impact the bottom line of social morality. The Party and the State have also issued a series of policy measures: On February 28, 2020, the State Council’s Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism “Notice on Further Doing a Good Job in the Prevention and Control of Epidemic Situation in Civil Service Institutions” (Guocindiandian [2020] No. 6) and On March 6, the central government responded to the New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic Work Leading Group's Notice on Further Doing a Good Job in Safeguarding the People in Difficulties during the Prevention and Control of Epidemic Diseases (Guo Diandian [2020] No. 9), which clearly pointed out that the family members were Isolate children who are admitted without care, as well as special groups such as orphans and left-behind children in the society, and require organizations to conduct visits and provide timely help. In particular, on March 14, 2020, the State Council responded to the new coronavirus infection pneumonia joint prevention and control mechanism and issued the Working Program for the Protection and Protection of Children with Guardianship Loss due to the Impact of the New Coronary Pneumonia Outbreak (Guocindiandian [2020] No. 11), specifically Detailed work has been formulated for “including children whose parents or other guardians confirm infection, suspected infection, or need to be observed in isolation, whose parents or other guardians are unable to fully fulfill their maintenance obligations and guardianship responsibilities due to epidemic prevention and epidemic prevention work, and other children affected by the epidemic situation” Program. These policy measures, while providing reference for the construction of public health emergency system, also need to sum up and improve in a timely manner based on current experience.
In the early stage of the epidemic, two types of cases of lack of temporary custody showed that children faced extremely high invisible risks in the epidemic crisis and should be the focus of epidemic prevention and control. One type of case is a family with weak guardianship ability, which resulted in lack of guardianship due to the epidemic situation. For example, on January 24, 2020, Yan Mou, a person from Yanjia Village, Huahe Town, Hong'an County, Huanggang City, Hubei Province, was isolated due to suspected new coronary pneumonia, and his 17-year-old quadriplegic son with cerebral palsy was alone at home for 6 days, and on January 29 Passed away. On February 24, 2020, in Zhuyi District, Huaguo Street Office, Zhangwan District, Shiyan City, Hubei Province, grid staff found that 71-year-old man Tan Mouhua died at home while leaving a five- or six-year-old The boy is at home alone. The other type is the family with normal guardianship ability, and the guardianship is lost due to the epidemic situation. For example, in an ordinary family in Dengkou, Inner Mongolia, parents are public officials and need to participate in local epidemic prevention and control work. Only a 6-year-old brother takes care of a 4-year-old sister at home alone.
2. Key Issues for the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Temporary Children
The aforementioned two types of cases typically reveal the key issues of children's rights protection under the epidemic:
One is the lack of material security. For the first type of families with weak guardianship, most of them face a lack of material life. In addition, due to the epidemic situation, individual families have lost their livelihood channels for survival, resulting in families being unable to obtain sufficient material security in a short period of time. It is a shortage of epidemic prevention materials.
The second is the impact of mental health. Children are a very special group in social life, with unique physical and mental characteristics, and immature minds. The negative information of the epidemic situation and the temporary absence of effective monitoring will have a cumulative effect that will seriously affect children's mental health. Especially for children who have lost their loved ones, the psychological trauma caused should be paid attention to in time.
The third is the late recovery of the epidemic. Although children are not directly involved in the frontline work of epidemic prevention and control, as children of frontline workers, the temporary lack of guardianship has caused many problems in life and learning. Due to the insufficient protection of children's rights and interests in the early stage of the epidemic, undesirable consequences have emerged. Reconstruction after the epidemic should not only restore the order of social production and life, but also track and study the children affected by the epidemic in time and take corresponding rescue measures.
3. Specific recommendations for the construction of a “temporary” dilemma child rights protection system
To deal with the problem of lack of temporary guardianship of children, it is necessary to draw on the existing legal systems for the protection of children in difficulty and combine the special requirements for epidemic prevention and control to provide timely and long-term help to children in temporary difficulties. On June 16, 2016, the State Council issued the Opinions on Strengthening the Work of Safeguarding Children in Difficulties, in which children in distress include children with difficulties in life, medical treatment and schooling due to family poverty, and rehabilitation, care, nursing and social integration due to their own disabilities Difficult children, and children who have been subjected to abuse, abandonment, accidental injury, unlawful violations, etc. due to lack of or improper guardianship at home, resulting in threats or violations of personal safety It can be seen from this that children in dilemma in the legal sense include situations where personal security is threatened or violated due to lack of family custody or improper custody. Children who lack temporary custody due to the epidemic are facing a “dilemma” of personal injury or accidental injury or unlawful infringement, but this lack of custody is temporary and can be classified as “temporary” The category of children in distress, using the existing child protection system to provide timely assistance. Combining the aforementioned relevant regulations and experience in epidemic prevention and control, we can proceed to further improve the system from the following three aspects in view of the existing problems of temporary children in difficulty:
First, timely update the information account for children in distress. Cases in the early stages of the epidemic show that the families of left-behind children and disabled children themselves have weak guardianship and need special attention. In the process of daily information management, the establishment of an information ledger for children in distress is the foundation, and during the epidemic, emphasis is placed on the timeliness and effectiveness of information updates. Therefore, in addition to the government departments and grassroots social organizations and other staff involved in the Opinions on Strengthening the Protection of Children in Difficulties to take the initiative to collect information at home, a parent liaison mechanism can be established to require the guardian to declare information actively in case of emergency. If there is a lack of temporary supervision, corresponding rescue measures shall be taken.
Second, focus on ensuring the supply of materials and resources in short supply. In terms of basic living security for children in distress, it is not enough to rely on the original rescue system for children in distress, and medical supplies and resources to protect against epidemics also need to be supplemented. For example, in order to stop the spread of the virus, provide anti-epidemic materials such as masks and organize door-to-door killing; for the diagnosis and treatment of children's patients, collect and report relevant information and arrange for hospitalization treatment. Special attention should be given to the different supplies required in different situations, the special physiological conditions of children different from adults, and the targeted provision of life security.
Finally, the specific content and standards of social supervision are detailed. According to the investigation report on the death of cerebral palsy children in Hubei, Although Yanmou takes care of him every day, the relevant cadres did not do their best and do their due diligence. This shows that there is a big difference between the guardianship standards of the original guardian and the temporary guardian. Especially for children with the disease themselves, how to conduct effective guardianship requires certain professional knowledge. Therefore, due to the emergencies and other emergencies caused by the lack of temporary guardianship, the specific content of social guardianship and related standards should be detailed in advance, and the staff should be organized to learn professional knowledge through training and learning to improve professional literacy and achieve children. Professional protection.