Seoul Jung-gu Operates Good Jobs Supporting Self-Sufficiency for People with Developmental Disabilities

1:1 Matching of People with Developmental Disabilities and Work Supporters for the 'Jahwal-eul Kkumkkuneun Gongwon Gakkumi' Project... Collecting Trash in Parks and Alleys, Maintaining Public Restroom Cleanliness, and Tending Flower Beds

On September 14, a person with developmental disabilities and a work support assistant paired up to clean up the village environment.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] When walking through Yaksu-dong in Jung-gu, Seoul, you can often see pairs of two people cleaning the alleys. They pick up trash carelessly discarded along the streets and put it into bags, and they also pull out weeds growing randomly in park flowerbeds.

Among these seemingly ordinary but distinct individuals, one is a person with developmental disabilities. The other is a work support staff who assists the person with developmental disabilities.

Jung-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Seo Yang-ho) established the first-ever Dong (neighborhood) government department nationwide in January last year, transferring district office tasks closely related to residents to the neighborhood level. They also granted budgeting authority decided by residents, leading to village-level changes centered on the community.

The two-person team of a person with developmental disabilities and a work support staff that you can meet in Yaksu-dong originates from this Dong government project in Jung-gu.

The idea started from a resident named Lee (Yaksu-dong, 53). Last year, during the resident-participation Dong government budget planning, he proposed a social job project for people with developmental disabilities.

Mr. Lee, who has a child with a disability, explained the purpose of the project: "Although welfare has improved a lot, employment barriers for people with disabilities remain high. It goes without saying that even ordinary people face tough employment difficulties these days. Moreover, the fields where people with disabilities can work are limited. Those with developmental disabilities who need care nearby have no place to stand."

Lee’s proposal received the highest votes at last year’s resident general meeting and was realized as the project "Park Gardening Dreaming of Self-Sufficiency." This was the result of a shared belief between the public and private sectors that the village could embrace them.

To ensure the project’s effectiveness, the district signed a business agreement with the Seoul Regional Headquarters of the Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled in March this year, establishing a mutual cooperation relationship to promote employment projects for people with disabilities. This was necessary because understanding of the participants was required beyond a simple job project.

After job announcements and job and safety training, in June this year, ten teams of the kind social job project "Park Gardening Dreaming of Self-Sufficiency," matching one person with developmental disabilities with one work support staff, were finally launched.

This is Seoul’s first employment project for people with developmental disabilities. The district also spared no effort to support their adaptation to the job, including providing assistive technology devices equipped with language learning functions for people with developmental disabilities.

People with developmental disabilities work five days a week, four hours a day, maintaining the village environment. Their tasks mainly include collecting trash in parks and alleys, maintaining cleanliness of public restrooms, and tending flowerbeds. The work support staff mark them one-on-one and assist with work activities to ensure tasks are performed well and to restrain any sudden behaviors. As a result, people with developmental disabilities gain opportunities for economic activity and social participation as members of the local community, and their families can reduce psychological burdens related to caregiving.

June 30 Assistive Technology Device Presentation and Participant Encouragement Event (4th from the left in the back row, Seoyangho, Jung-gu Mayor)

The person in charge at the Yaksu-dong Community Service Center said, "This project could become a new social job model where economic activity as employment also functions as caregiving."

Seo Yang-ho, Mayor of Jung-gu, said, "The Dong government projects initiated since my inauguration are beginning to shine one by one. As seen in this project, healthy resident autonomy can create positive synergy for village members. We will continue to strive to develop policies that listen more closely to the voices of our residents."

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