10 Years Later, Still Fake?… Ministry of Welfare Begins Audit of Adoption Record Computerization Project
The Child Rights Protection Agency (formerly the Central Adoption Agency) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare has been carrying out the ‘Adoption Records Computerization Project’ since 2013 to collect and computerize adoption records scattered across private organizations. The purpose is to permanently preserve adoption records in the private sector by integrating them into a public institution and to increase adoptees’ access to information.
However, suspicions have been raised that this project, which has been in progress for about 10 years, has been managed poorly. It is said that everything from basic record scanning to the process of uploading data to the online system has been handled poorly. It has been confirmed that the Ministry of Health and Welfare has also identified the related issues and has begun an audit of the Child Rights Protection Agency regarding the ‘Adoption Records Computerization Project’. Previously, Newstapa conducted the <Overseas Adoption and Money> project to identify the structural problems of overseas adoption in the 1970s and 1980s. Through this, we have reported in depth on cases of overseas adoptees who were unable to find their information due to the barriers of adoption agencies. The adoption records computerization project of the National Institute of Child Rights, a public institution, was started to help adoptees find their roots, but it is being revealed that it has been carried out haphazardly. Newstapa plans to track and report on the reality of the adoption records computerization project that has been carried out for the past 10 years. Adoption records computerization project 10 years… Suspicions finally surface Adoptees usually do not stay in one institution after being separated from their original families and adopted into another family. In the case of overseas adoptees in the 1970s and 1980s, they were admitted to child welfare facilities that were formerly called orphanages, and then sent to institutions that arranged overseas adoptions such as Holt Children’s Welfare Association, where they were finally adopted. This means that there can be records from multiple institutions for one child. Welfare facilities and adoption agencies each create records in different forms. This is one of the reasons why adoptees have difficulty finding their records. The adoption records computerization project was implemented for the purpose of integrating and managing records scattered across individual facilities. This project was first started at the Central Adoption Center in 2013. After the Central Adoption Center was integrated into the Child Rights Protection Center in 2019, it was run by the Child Rights Protection Center for a total of 10 years until 2022.
Adoption records containing personal information about children, circumstances of admission to facilities, and information about biological parents are more than just records to overseas adoptees. Adoptees said, “If there was a problem, the Child Rights Protection Agency should take responsibility,” and “(the agency) should quickly step forward and explain (what happened).” <Overseas Adoption and Money> Project Collection.
From 2013 to 2022, the Child Rights Protection Center computerized the records of 86 closed child welfare facilities for 10 years. The project was not implemented in 2023 and 2024. Starting next year, records from adoption agencies such as Holt Children’s Welfare Association and the Korea Social Service Association will be mandatorily transferred to the center.
However, ahead of the mandatory transfer of records from adoption agencies such as Holt Children’s Welfare Association next year, suspicions have been raised that there were overall deficiencies in the adoption record computerization project that the Child Rights Protection Center had been conducting for 10 years. It is pointed out that there were overall problems with the project, such as scanning errors, non-compliance with guidelines, and insufficient system uploads. Newstapa confirmed the details through the testimonies of multiple relevant parties. This is the first time that the problems with the adoption record computerization project that was conducted for 10 years have been reported by the media.