Sending questions to the Ministry of Finance, reader H.T.T.L said: Currently, the bases for issuing Circular No. 87/2008/TT-BTC have expired; at the same time, Decree No. 56/2017/ND-CP detailing a number of articles of the Law on Children also no longer regulates the Children's Protection Fund.
However, according to the national legal database, Circular No. 87/2008/TT-BTC is still shown to be valid.
This reality is causing difficulties for localities in determining the legal validity of the above-mentioned Circular, as a basis for reorganizing the Children's Protection Fund during the province's merger process.
I propose that the Ministry of Finance consider and have specific guidance on the effectiveness of Circular No. 87/2008/TT-BTC, in order to create a complete legal basis for localities to implement" - the reader suggested.
Regarding this issue, the Ministry of Finance answers as follows:
The Children's Protection Fund is regulated in Article 95 of the Law on Children No. 102/2016/QH13. Currently, the bases for issuing Circular No. 87/2008/TT-BTC have expired and are replaced by other legal documents.
However, the Ministry of Finance has not yet issued a Circular repealing Circular No. 87/2008/TT-BTC because the abolition of the Circular will create a legal gap in regulations on the management and use of the Fund.
At the same time, the construction of the current management mechanism of the Children's Fund needs to clearly define the legal status (organization model) of the Children's Fund.
After arranging the organizational structure, the state management function of children is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Health.
The Ministry of Health has issued Decision No. 1045/QD-BYT dated March 27, 2025 on temporarily regulating the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Vietnam Children's Fund.
Accordingly, the Vietnam Children's Fund is responsible for "Coordinating with relevant units to develop and submit to the Ministry of Health for promulgation or submit to competent authorities for promulgation a financial management mechanism for the activities of the Vietnam Children's Fund to apply uniformly to the Children's Funds at all levels and guide the management and use of the Children's Funds at all levels".
To date, the Ministry of Health has not issued or submitted to competent authorities for promulgation guidelines on the organizational model, management, and use of the Children's Protection Fund at all levels.
Therefore, regarding the re-organization of the Children's Fund, readers are requested to base on the Law on Children No. 102/2016/QH13 and reflect difficulties and obstacles to the Ministry of Health for guidance on implementation.
