Forum｜Who Guarantees Social Workers? Discussing the Legal Responsibilities and Professional Boundaries of Social Workers within the Social Safety Net

Dear social work partners, and professional colleagues in the legal and academic communities:

Within the social safety net, social workers are those who mend the tears; yet when the net collapses, does the gaze of the law turn toward the hands that tried so hard to hold on? In recent years, the criminal liability faced by social workers involved in the Kai-kai child abuse case has triggered profound anxiety within the professional community. We cannot help but ask: when does a social worker's professional duty of care transform into the "status of a guarantor" under criminal law? When systemic social problems arise, where should the legal boundaries of responsibility actually be drawn?

To clarify these critical controversies, the Taiwan NPO Self-Regulation Alliance, the Taiwan Association of Social Work Education, the Judicial Reform Foundation, and the Taipei Social Workers' Union are jointly hosting this forum. We have invited criminal law scholars, social work academics, and union representatives in an effort to construct clearer legal protections and professional boundaries for frontline social workers through cross-disciplinary dialogue.

Online Registration

Date

Thursday, April 9, 2026, 14:30-17:30 (Admission starts at 14:00)

Venue

Chung-Yo Foundation (10th Fl., No. 30, Gongyuan Rd., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City)

Format

This will be held as a hybrid in-person and online event. Due to venue capacity, in-person attendance is limited, while online participation will be conducted via ZOOM. To ensure the smooth progression of the forum, questions from online participants will be taken primarily in text format, and a link for Q&A will be provided at that time.

Target Audience

Restricted to professionals with a background in social work or law

The personal data collected for registration for this forum will be handled in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Personal Data Protection Act and will be used solely for event notifications and feedback.

Because participation in the forum is restricted to professionals with backgrounds in social work or law, registration qualifications must be reviewed in advance. Accordingly, completion of registration does not guarantee admission to the event, and admission will be determined by the pre-event notification.

Pre-event notifications for both in-person and online participants will be sent by Wednesday, April 8. Please ensure that you provide a valid email address and verify that it has been entered correctly.

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Agenda

Moderator: Mo Li-li / Former President, Taiwan Association of Social Work Education

Time	Activity & Description	Speaker
14:00-14:30	Check-in
14:30-14:35	Opening Remarks	Representative, Taiwan Association of Social Work Education Representative, Alliance of Civil Organizations for Transparency
14:35-15:45	Special Lecture (I): Discussion on the Social Work System and Legal Responsibilities	Speaker Wang Huang-yu / Distinguished Professor and Dean, College of Law, National Taiwan University
	Special Lecture (II): Dialectics on Social Workers and the Status of a Guarantor under Criminal Law	Speaker Lu Ying-chieh / Professor, Department of Law, National Chung Cheng University; Board Member, Judicial Reform Foundation
15:45-16:45	Expert Dialogue Examining the Possibility, Dilemmas, and Impacts of Applying the "Status of a Guarantor" to Social Workers from Practice	Panelists Wang Shu-yuan / Professor, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, National Chi Nan University Lai Yueh-mi / Adjunct Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Social Work, National Taiwan Normal University Shen Yao-yi / Vice President, Taipei Social Workers' Union
16:45-17:25	Plenary Discussion and On-site Interaction
17:25-17:30	Conclusion

Co-organizers

• Alliance of Civil Organizations for Transparency
• Taiwan Association of Social Work Education
• Judicial Reform Foundation
• Taipei Social Workers' Union