China drafts new rules to protect foster children

Rao Meixiang, a woman in her 50s, washes a boy's face in the morning on Feb 19, 2014, in Dexing, East China's Jiangxi province. Rao has adopted 85 abandoned children, most of them with physical disabilities, since 1996.[Photo/icpress.cn]

The Legal Affairs Office of China's State Council has drafted improved regulations for child foster care and submitted them for public scrutiny on Sunday, the Beijing Times reports.

Under the new rules, if foster children suffer from personal or property damage caused by members of foster homes, caregivers will bear civil liability for the damages. When the circumstances constitute a crime, foster parents will be subject to criminal prosecution.

The rules also stipulate that each family can provide care for two foster children at the most. The existing regulations allow families to have as many as three children in foster care.

In addition to economic requirements to become foster parents, the improved regulations state that foster families can not have children under the age of six.

Foster relationships will be terminated if foster children suffer from abuse and discrimination from caregivers, according to the draft.