Seocho-gu, Nationwide First 'Child Protection Response Center' Established... Serving as Control Tower Role

Integrated Meeting Room, Emergency Video Conference Room, Counseling Therapy Room, Parent Consultation Room, Child Abuse Victim Shelter, etc... Investigation Staff Deployment Expanded Beyond Ministry of Health and Welfare Standards (1 per 20 Cases vs. 1 per 50 Cases)

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Seocho-gu (Mayor Eunhee Jo) is set to actively implement a ‘Comprehensive Child Protection Plan’ with enhanced public interest.

In January, the district held discussions with police officers on the front lines of child protection, child protection agencies, child protection facility officials, and experts to share opinions on issues and improvement measures in the field of child abuse.

They identified the division of child protection authority and the lack of organic cooperation between institutions?specifically, the absence of a ‘Child Abuse Response System Control Tower’?as major problems.

To address these issues, Seocho-gu has prepared a plan to strengthen the child protection response system so that the district can take full responsibility as the control tower, and will begin full-scale operation.

First, the district will establish the ‘Child Protection Response Center’ (hereinafter referred to as the Response Center), a public-private-police joint response platform, the first of its kind nationwide.

The Response Center will be equipped as the nation’s first new-concept child protection response center, comprehensively featuring a public-private-police integrated conference room, emergency video conference room, counseling and therapy rooms, parent counseling rooms, and a shelter function for child abuse victims, enabling cooperation from the reporting stage through post-management.

Additionally, to serve as the comprehensive control tower for Seocho-gu’s child protection response, the Response Center will have dedicated public officials, police officers (Abuse Prevention Officers: APO), counselors, and child protection specialists on site. Meetings for the safe protection of abused children and information sharing will be held frequently, and urgent or difficult face-to-face child abuse cases will be promptly discussed via video conferences.

Until now, child abuse reporting and management were dualized, making efficient joint response between the district and police difficult. To address this, an integrated management system for report data corresponding to the immediate separation system will be established, enabling rapid initial intervention by the district and police and preventing investigation delays. In the future, child abuse investigations will, in principle, be jointly conducted by the police and dedicated public officials through the Response Center, establishing an efficient investigation system.

Moreover, a ‘Child Abuse Case Judgment Panel’ composed of police, dedicated public officials, child protection agencies, and specialized lawyers will be formed to make judgments regularly and as needed (twice a month).

Within the Response Center, a specialized child abuse counseling center will also operate to quickly intervene without waiting, supporting the mental and physical recovery of abused children and their families and strengthening family functions.

Furthermore, to strengthen case management, child protection specialists will be separately assigned to connect abused families with tailored welfare services, striving to prevent re-abuse.

Previously, monitoring of abused children and families and provision of services tailored to their needs were roles of child protection agencies, but accessibility was limited. Now, using counseling and therapy rooms within the Response Center as bases, various services operated by Seocho-gu and child protection agencies will be integrated and post-management strengthened.

The district will also establish child abuse protection facilities alongside the Response Center. Recognizing the need for a shelter for abused children, it has secured a site and construction budget. In partnership with local construction company ‘Hoban Construction’ and startup ‘Ten Eleven,’ the shelter will be rapidly built and operated within the first half of the year.

Additionally, following the introduction of the immediate separation system, one dedicated medical institution for child abuse has been designated to support the stability and recovery of children. More medical institutions will be designated to establish a foundation for smooth physical and mental treatment of abused children.

Since early detection and prevention are paramount in child abuse, the district has launched the ‘Happy Kids TV’ YouTube channel to strengthen abuse prevention education and specialized parenting education for child abuse, building a dense prevention safety net. The channel will regularly upload various content related to child abuse prevention education, including parent-child interaction techniques, discipline methods by MBTI personality types, child rights education, and Seocho-gu welfare services.

Moreover, education for mandatory reporters caring for vulnerable infants and toddlers will be strengthened to four times a year. The target audience includes about 2,300 childcare teachers, kindergarten teachers, babysitters, and child guardians, with non-face-to-face real-time online education conducted via Zoom.

To reduce the reporting burden on local residents and strengthen early detection of abuse, a mobile reporting channel called ‘Good Report Talk’ has been launched. This channel is linked to the shared phone of child abuse dedicated public officials, allowing 24/7 counseling and reporting throughout the year.

Child abuse prevention activities utilizing human networks will also be enhanced. Resident-led ‘Child Guardians’ and the public-private-police collaborative body ‘Child Abuse Response Information Linkage Council’ will operate to further strengthen the prevention safety net.

‘Child Guardians’ will be assigned to 18 community service centers within the district, continuously monitoring ‘Good Kid Stores’ such as convenience stores and real estate agencies, playing a role in early detection of suspected child abuse households.

Additionally, the ‘Child Abuse Response Information Linkage Council’?comprising police stations, education offices, child protection agencies, and related local institutions?will hold monthly meetings to share information on abuse victims and children suspected to be at risk, jointly seeking prevention and protection measures.

Furthermore, the district will promote active participation of local residents in child abuse prevention and reporting through measures such as distributing comprehensive child abuse prevention leaflets at birth registration, producing and posting ‘Child Abuse Report Talk’ stickers in local stores, establishing a child abuse prevention promotion corner in the Seocho newsletter, and posting prevention education materials on various district SNS and educational institution notification media (Kids Note, e-Alimi).

Meanwhile, for more effective and proactive child protection, the district reorganized its structure in January to establish a Child Protection Team for systematic child protection, assigning five social welfare public officials?significantly more than the standard three?and one dedicated child protection officer.

In May, two additional professional investigators will be hired, reducing workload to one per 20 cases and increasing expertise. Various incentives such as on-call pay and preferential personnel evaluations have been provided to foster a proactive working environment.

Seocho-gu Mayor Eunhee Jo stated, “Children suffering from abuse must never experience it again,” adding, “We will meticulously manage everything from prevention to post-monitoring, not just separating them temporarily, to create a happy city that can offer children a bright future.”

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