Nowon-gu Supports Psychological Counseling Costs for 30 Youths Experiencing Depression and Other Issues Through Youth Mind Care Program

From July, counseling held 4 times a month for 6 months... Up to 1 year possible upon re-evaluation... 'Nowon-type Youth Policy' invests 7.3 billion KRW in 5 core strategies and 58 short- and long-term projects... Practical policies for youth also prepared

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) started a youth psychological support service from July to help young people experiencing lethargy and depression due to the economic recession and employment difficulties.

According to the 2018 Statistics Korea Economic Survey, the age group with the highest incidence of mental disorders is between 10 and 30 years old, accounting for 80% of all age groups.

So far, the district has supported various psychological support voucher services such as early childhood development support services and child and adolescent psychological support services, but since these were targeted at children and adolescents under 18 years old, young adults were effectively left in a service blind spot.

This project was prepared for young people who suffer from psychological and emotional problems but have difficulty accessing counseling centers due to the high cost of counseling fees.

The target group is young people aged 19 to 34 from households with an income below 150% of the median income. The district recruited service recipients from May and selected 30 young people.

First, users choose their preferred psychological counseling institution registered as a service provider and undergo a preliminary assessment. Through a pre-need assessment test measuring stress coping ability, smooth interpersonal relationship formation, and communication skills improvement, personalized counseling services are provided.

Psychological counseling is conducted once a week for 60 minutes per session, with a total of 24 sessions over six months (four sessions per month). If additional support is needed, re-evaluation allows service use for up to one year.

To use the service, users must obtain a National Happiness Card from a financial institution and pay for the service using the voucher points loaded on the card each month.

Voucher points are provided monthly on a sliding scale from 168,000 KRW to a maximum of 216,000 KRW depending on income level. The user’s co-payment ranges from 24,000 KRW to 72,000 KRW per month according to income level.

Meanwhile, the district is also promoting the ‘Nowon-type Youth Policy.’

With five core strategies and 58 short- and long-term projects, 7.3 billion KRW will be invested this year alone. To create an environment where young people can work and be active locally, policies are implemented in categories such as ▲ discovering youth jobs ▲ establishing five social safety nets ▲ building a youth activity ecosystem ▲ attracting youth influx ▲ and establishing and stabilizing the youth policy promotion system.

District Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “The role of young people is essential for Nowon to achieve its second heyday,” adding, “We will create a young, vibrant, and healthy welfare city Nowon by preparing policies that provide practical help to youth.”

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