Women, Family, and Community Development Deputy Minister Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun said caregivers at these homes need to undergo proper training. “Because they don’t have any training, the easy way out was to lock the aggressive residents in the cubicles without any consultation of medical experts,” she said. Chew agreed that the lack of proper training among the welfare home’s manager and caregivers was one of the weaknesses overlooked by the Community Welfare Department.
 
The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry has advised the home to carry out thorough psychiatric evaluation for all its residents to check their mental condition and find the best medical treatment. “There is no need to place them in cubicles if they can be less aggressive with medication, or if the doctors recommend that the residents need to seek treatment at Hospital Bahagia. If indeed doctors recommend that some aggressive residents need to be confined, then we need to come up with a better method,” Chew added. The Ministry will send psychiatrists and specialists to the welfare home to assess the condition of its residents. Chew also expressed it is important to address negative perceptions the public might harbor about care facilities for the mentally impaired.
 
In light of this matter, the National Early Childhood Intervention Council (NECIC) has revised and reissued guidelines for all residential homes for children with disabilities:

Date: 27 November 2016
Time: 9am to 1pm
Venue: Rumah Kebajikan Kanak-Kanak Cacat Negeri Perak, JKR 511, Lorong Aman, P.O.Box 14, Perak, 31000 Batu Gajah, Malaysia
Phone: +605-365 6197