Opening of Yongsan-gu Integrated Support Center for Families in Crisis

21㎡ Area... 9 Staff Including Center Director (Also Head of Hope Welfare Team)... One-Stop Service for Case Classification, Counseling, Field Visits, and Service Coordination

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Families are in jeopardy. Tragic incidents caused by domestic violence, abuse, and neglect continue to occur. The problem is that most of these at-risk families have “complex circumstances.” To support these families and resolve the issues, a more integrated management and countermeasure approach is required.

Yongsan-gu (District Mayor Seong Changhyun) held a signing and opening ceremony for the Integrated Support Center for At-Risk Families (hereafter the Center) on the 7th at the mayor’s office and the Welfare Policy Division.

The signing ceremony took place in the mayor’s office. Seong Changhyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, and Kim Dongkwon, Chief of Yongsan Police Station, signed a memorandum of understanding to establish an integrated management system to prevent recurrence of at-risk family cases.

Following this, the guests toured the facilities prepared in the Welfare Policy Division and concluded the opening ceremony.

The Center is 21㎡ in size. Up to nine staff members, including the Center Director (who concurrently serves as the Hope Welfare Team Leader), work together. When reports of domestic violence, elder or child abuse, etc., are received via 112, the Center takes the lead in a one-stop process including case classification, initial counseling, field visits, case meetings, service linkage, monitoring, and follow-up management.

The overall responsibility for the establishment and operation of the Center lies with Yongsan-gu. The Center is composed of police officers (Anti-Abuse Police Officers, APO), integrated case managers, and counseling personnel. Yongsan Police Station has agreed to dispatch APOs to the district.

Furthermore, the two institutions plan to mutually share information related to integrated case management for at-risk families who have consented to information provision. However, information related to investigations will be excluded.

A district official stated, “Through this agreement, the integrated case management system has been further strengthened,” and added, “With cooperation between public officials and the police, we will be able to respond proactively and provide prompt support to at-risk households.”

Integrated case management refers to a project that continuously provides and monitors necessary services such as welfare, health, employment, housing, and education in an integrated manner to individuals with complex and diverse needs through counseling and monitoring.

In addition to operating the Center, the district plans to continuously enhance the case management capabilities of the staff through employee orientation and training, expert consultation (supervision), and welfare academies.

Seong Changhyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, “We have decided to establish and operate the Integrated Support Center for At-Risk Families together with Yongsan Police Station,” and added, “The district and police will do their best to eliminate welfare blind spots and systematically support at-risk families.”

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