DPP Taitung mayoral candidate Weng Shenghui expresses her political views on full-age care

Taitung mayoral candidate Weng Shenghui of the Democratic Progressive Party expressed her political views on all-age care today. (Photo by reporter Huang Mingtang)

Ong Sheng-hui, the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate for Taitung mayor, today expressed her "care for all" policy, proposing "care for all ages" from children to elders. Weng Shenghui, who has nine years of experience as a protective social worker and is a mother of three children, pointed out that many families often face the dilemma of having elders to take care of, children to accompany, and caregivers themselves almost unable to support themselves. The problem is often that resources are spread across different units, leaving people with nowhere to turn for help. She advocated taking good care of the stronghold of the elders, connecting scattered resources, and giving families with children a place to go. She emphasized that "caregiving should not be left to a family alone."

Weng Shenghui proposed a number of specific measures: long-term care and community care centers will promote environmental upgrades, proactively inventory circulation, ventilation, lighting, anti-skid and fire-fighting equipment, and seek funds from the central and county governments for phased improvements to create safe and comfortable social spaces. At the same time, a "two-way inventory of needs and resources" is implemented to proactively identify families living alone, elderly caretakers, and vulnerable families, and integrate public and private supplies and subsidies to avoid duplication or omission of resources.

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In order to simplify the help-seeking process, the Municipal Office will set up a single consultation and referral window, with dedicated personnel tracking cases. The Municipal Office will never shirk responsibility and conduct professional diversion on the premise of strictly protecting personal information and privacy. In response to childcare needs, Weng Shenghui will use the city's available space to strive for the establishment of the Taitung City Parent-child Center, creating a base integrating "playing, consultation, early treatment, and parent support", and integrating cross-field professional medical teams to provide services. At the same time, mobile parent-child services will be developed to enter the community. In addition, she also targets caregivers and provides respite services and support groups.

Weng Shenghui emphasized that the effectiveness of the policy should not only be judged by how many supplies were distributed, but how many families that were not served were identified and whether the referrals were actually completed. "Seeing needs, integrating resources, and solving problems are my approach as a social worker, and this will also be my approach to governing Taitung City." She hopes that the city office will become an unavoidable entrance, so that Taitung citizens no longer have to do it alone, whether raising children or taking care of their elders.