Gokseong-gun Actively Works to Eliminate Welfare Blind Spots

Focused Identification of Vulnerable Groups in Winter, Welfare Services Provided to 107 People So Far

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do is achieving results in resolving welfare blind spots by establishing a net-like welfare system.

According to Gokseong-gun on the 6th, the county is conducting a comprehensive survey of households in crisis until the 29th to discover and support welfare blind spots during the winter season.

This survey began on November 15 of last year to proactively identify individuals facing difficulties due to unemployment and cold waves.

So far, visits and assessments have been conducted on 502 people to confirm reasons for their crisis. Among them, 107 people were provided with public benefits such as emergency welfare and basic livelihood security, or connected to private welfare resources like the Community Chest of Korea.

Additionally, 46 households with diverse and complex needs were selected as integrated case subjects and provided with customized welfare services through public-private cooperation.

As of the end of January this year, the elderly population ratio in Gokseong-gun exceeded 35%. This is much higher than the national average of 15.5% and nearly double the 20% standard for a super-aged society.

The proportion of households with disabled persons is also high at 11.4%, compared to the national 5%, and the rates of basic livelihood recipients and near-poor households account for about 10% of the total, indicating a large vulnerable population. Gokseong-gun expects that there are many welfare blind spots yet to be identified due to the high proportion of vulnerable groups.

To effectively discover households in crisis, Gokseong-gun is conducting the survey in parallel with the first half of the year’s resident registration comprehensive survey. For this purpose, dedicated teams performing the role of customized welfare hubs are active in three zones among the 11 towns and townships. These teams and the welfare teams of the remaining eight townships establish their own plans to discover households in crisis and provide welfare services by visiting the field.

Furthermore, a dense welfare network has been established through cooperation with the private sector. In the 11 towns and townships, 128 members of the local community security council, 82 welfare task force members called “Our Neighborhood Solvers,” and 619 Hope Dream Welfare Leaders are working to eliminate blind spots.

In particular, Gokseong-gun selected 536 households using data on power and water disconnections, unemployment, and rent arrears, and is conducting focused field investigations on them. For the discovered households in crisis, public welfare services such as emergency welfare and private welfare services will be actively linked and supported. Moreover, individuals with complex welfare needs will be managed as integrated case management subjects, receiving continuous counseling and service linkage.

A representative from the Gokseong-gun Resident Welfare Division said, “Welfare has expanded in meaning from being for specific groups to a universal right that everyone should enjoy,” adding, “We will implement a net-like welfare policy that ensures no citizen is left out through welfare for all, embracing and caring for more people.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.