尋家之路：特殊需求兒童收養服務初探

Abstract

收養服務在近年有了重大變革，孩子要被收養必須透過收出養媒合服務業者幫忙，並且強調國內收養優先，以減少跨種族收養帶來的文化及認同問題。然而，卻有多數的特殊需求兒童面臨出養困難的問題，或者必須透過國際收養管道找到家庭。本研究透過質性研究方法，以半結構式訪談九位收養服務社工人員，旨在從收養端的觀點出發，針對服務特殊需求兒童收養經驗，探討每一階段所面臨的實務困境與因應，以及修法後出現的議題與建議。 研究結果得知，在收養家庭圖像中，國內收養動機與意願不足是出養困難關鍵，特殊需求兒童找到家庭的機會，需仰賴社工鼓吹與收養家庭本身優勢配搭，因此收養社工的工作重點多採取評估與準備共存的服務模式。至於服務過程所遭遇的困難在於：網絡合作面的挑戰、兒童及其重要他人的變動適應挑戰、法院認可程序面的挑戰、追蹤期失聯或出現變動的挑戰等。而修法後所增設的媒合平台對特殊需求兒童未發揮實質功能，補正案的家庭對收取服務費或機構服務會抗拒，但整體收出養服務持續走在宣導開放收養觀念的路上。 最後，研究者建議：實務工作者除了應積極鼓勵有能力照顧特殊需求兒童的收養人外，也需強化橫向網絡的密集收養準備服務，並發展專門收養特殊需求兒童服務方案；政府則需要在托育與長照政策納入對收養誘因的配套福利服務，以對國內收養提供足夠的支持。Recently, there have been major changes to the adoption services. For a child to be adopted now, the services of an adoption provider must be used, and domestic adoption is stressed as a priority in order to reduce the cultural and identity issues brought on by inter-racial adoption. However, many children with special needs are facing adoption difficulties, and the intercountry adoption channel has to be enlisted to help find adoption families. Qualitative research methodology is used in this paper, and 9 adoption-service social workers are interviewed with the semi-structured method. The aim of this paper is to explore the difficulties in actual practice and the coping methods required at every stage of an adoption, and to understand issues incurred after the amendment of the adoption law, along with making recommendations for solutions, specifically targeting the adoption service experience for children with special needs, from social workers’ perspective.

Research findings of this paper show that, from the profiles of adopting families, a lack of adoption motivation and will is the key issue that leads to adoption difficulties. The opportunities for children with special needs to find an adopting family rely on a social worker’s advocate and the loving quality of the adopting family itself, thus the work of a social worker in the adoption services focuses mainly on the evaluation and preparation co-service model. Difficulties encountered during the process of such services are: challenges in network cooperation, challenges in adapting to the changes of children and other important people, challenges in the procedures sanctioned by the court, and challenges in losing contact, or any changes during the tracking period. While the matchmaking platform established after the law was amended does not provide substantial functions for children with special needs, and families of corrective cases are resistant to the collection of service fees and institutional services; overall, adoption services are still on the path of advocating the idea of open adoption.

Lastly, the researcher of this paper recommends: that not only the practitioners should actively encourage the participation of those who are capable of caring for children with special needs, the lateral network should also be intensively strengthened for the adoption preparation services, in addition to developing service programs specifically for adopting children with special needs. Additionally, the government should include adoption incentives with auxiliary welfare assistance in the daycare and long-term care regulations to help provide adequate support for the domestic adoption services.