Gwangju City Establishes Integrated Care Support Center for Severely Disabled Developmental Disorder Patients...Nation's First

Mayor Lee Yong-seop Reveals Developmental Disability Policies in City Council Administrative Questions Response

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City is establishing the nation’s first ‘Integrated Care Support Center for the Most Severe Developmental Disabilities’ to provide care for severely developmentally disabled individuals within the public sector.

On the 20th, at the 293rd Gwangju City Council extraordinary session, Mayor Lee Yong-seop announced plans to support individuals with the most severe developmental disabilities in response to council member Jo Seok-ho’s questions regarding disability policies.

The mayor stated, “Following the death of a mother and child with developmental disabilities in Gwangju on June 3, Gwangju City has held meetings with stakeholders, including the Gwangju Developmental Disabilities Parents’ Association, to gather opinions and seek solutions for developmentally disabled individuals to live safely and happily within the local community.”

He continued, “After receiving six policy proposals from the Gwangju Developmental Disabilities Parents’ Association and forming a ‘Developmental Disabilities Support Policy Discovery Task Force’ for focused review, we established the ‘Gwangju Metropolitan City Support Plan for the Most Severe Developmental Disabilities,’ which includes five major areas and ten key tasks such as operating the ‘Integrated Care Support Center for the Most Severe Developmental Disabilities.’”

The main project involves establishing the ‘Integrated Care Support Center for the Most Severe Developmental Disabilities’ to provide one-on-one care. This includes daytime activity support (Challenge 2 project) and the introduction of a new residential model Level 3, where dedicated staff stay with individuals from evening until the next morning, creating a system that combines 24-hour behavioral therapy and care.

Additionally, an emergency care center will be operated to relieve the burden on parents caring for developmentally disabled children by providing a safe place to leave their children during urgent situations such as hospitalizations or family events.

Furthermore, since disability welfare facilities have not operated on weekends and holidays until now, increasing the care burden on developmentally disabled individuals and their families, weekend and holiday care support for the most severe developmental disabilities will be piloted starting next month, with plans to provide 365-day care support from next year.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop said, “Being born with a disability is no one’s fault, and the pain and responsibility should not be borne solely by the individual and their family. We will strive harder to ensure that not a single citizen suffers unjustly and to create a happy community where developmentally disabled individuals and their families can live equally without discrimination.”

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