In an effort to increase self-sufficiency and upward mobility for low and middle-low income households, as well as promote the spirit of social solidarity, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has allocated funds from the public welfare lottery to help local governments and non-governmental organizations implement anti-poverty programs. The programs utilize diverse measures to help children and youths from low and middle-low income households escape poverty, including educational investment, wealth-building, self-sufficiency through job placement, etc. 
Li Mei-Zhen, director of the Ministry’s Department of Social Assistance and Social Work, cited Article 15-1 of the Public Assistance Act as the basis for local governments to plan and implement anti-poverty measures, by either implementing in-house programs or utilizing non-governmental resources. On that basis, local county/city governments—using non-governmental resources—have implemented diverse anti-poverty programs including educational investment, wealth-building, job placement, etc. In particular, wealth-building initiatives have largely taken the form of “Family Development Accounts”. Social workers evaluate and screen participating households for inclusion. This initiative allocates matched savings or matches funds for specific goals such as paying for higher education, starting a business, or purchasing a home, etc., to promote self-sufficiency and escape from poverty. 
The Ministry noted that since community needs vary, local county/city governments are handling implementation on a case-by-case basis. Such adaptation to local circumstances allows procedural flexibility. In 2015, local county/city governments implemented fifty-plus anti-poverty programs, with a total subsidy of NT $13,437,000 from the Ministry. Thus, President-elect Tsai Ing-Wen’s recent proposal of “Education Development Accounts” is actually already being implemented with existing anti-poverty programs. 
In addition, to help the next generation from disadvantaged households obtain human capital, miscellaneous school fees for high school/vocational school and above have been completely waived for low income households, and reduced 60% for middle-low income households. The government also provides a living assistance subsidy of NT $2,695/month for children from low income households, and an education and living assistance subsidy of NT $6,115/month for each student in high school/vocational school and above. All of these measures are intended to allow economically disadvantaged youths to continue their education even with financial hardship. By encouraging continuing education, these assistance programs will hopefully lead to better employment opportunities for the next generation and lift entire households out of poverty. 
To incentivize low/ middle-low income households to participate in anti-poverty programs, a grace period for welfare benefits has been introduced. The grace period exempts (for a period of time and within certain amounts) anti-poverty subsidies and savings from calculations of household income/assets, so as to prevent the loss of eligibility for welfare benefits. The grace period may last as long as 3 years, and may be extended an additional year in cases of verified need. This gradual approach helps households accumulate wealth and make progress toward escaping poverty.