Gokseong-gun Expands Support for Disabled Activity Assistance Services

[Gokseong=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do announced on the 5th that disability welfare policies will change this year to support the maintenance of a healthy daily life and independence for people with disabilities.

First, support for disability activity assistance services will be expanded.

Until now, when recipients of disability activity support turned 65, they were converted to elderly long-term care recipients, which sometimes resulted in reduced benefits. However, from this year, if certain conditions are met, they will be able to continue receiving activity support services.

The unit cost for activity support services was also increased from the previous 13,500 KRW per hour to 14,020 KRW per hour to enhance the quality of services.

Additionally, the additional hourly wage for activity support workers assisting the most severely disabled will be raised from 1,000 KRW to 1,500 KRW, which is expected to somewhat alleviate difficulties in connecting support personnel with recipients.

Daytime activity services for adults with developmental disabilities and after-school activity services for adolescents with developmental disabilities will also be expanded. The plan is to provide services that allow people with developmental disabilities to spend meaningful time during the day, thereby reducing the caregiving burden on families.

Adults with developmental disabilities can choose to receive daytime activity services between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., while adolescents with developmental disabilities can choose between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. (and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and during school vacations).

However, the available service hours may vary depending on the disability grade, and the recipient can decide the service hours through a contract with the service provider.

Income security for people with disabilities will also be strengthened. The basic amount of the disability pension will be increased from 250,000 KRW to 300,000 KRW per month. Disability job wages will also be raised by 1.5% (based on full-time), compared to last year, to help people with disabilities maintain a more stable life.

The scope of disability recognition will be expanded. Disability recognition criteria will be established for 10 diseases, including Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), for which the need for recognition has been continuously raised, and efforts will be made to expand recognized diseases.

Furthermore, from April this year, a new "Exceptional Disability Recognition Review Procedure" will be introduced to individually review and exceptionally recognize cases that have not been acknowledged due to current disability categories and assessment criteria.

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