Busan City, How to Support 'At-Risk Youth'... Implementing Comprehensive Plan for Youth Growth Support and Welfare Enhancement

4 Major Strategies and 22 Key Initiatives, Support by Crisis Type

Strengthening Protection and Welfare Services, Creating a Safe Society for Youth

Busan City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] A comprehensive support plan for youth welfare in Busan is being promoted.

Busan City (Mayor Park Hyung-jun) announced on the 11th that it has established and is implementing the "2021 Comprehensive Support Plan for At-Risk Youth" with the goal of "supporting healthy growth and promoting welfare for youth."

This plan consists of four major strategies: ▲strengthening the youth safety net ▲expanding and revitalizing youth support facilities ▲improving harmful environments for youth and strengthening protection support ▲expanding youth welfare support and enhancing publicity, supported by 22 key tasks.

First, to create a society where youth can live safely, Busan City, district and county offices, and 16 Youth Counseling and Welfare Centers in the area will strengthen the youth safety net by linking local youth resources such as the Office of Education, police agencies, and youth welfare facilities.

Through this, customized integrated services such as counseling, protection, education, independence support, and medical assistance will be provided to youth experiencing difficulties according to their type of crisis.

Second, youth support facilities will be expanded and their operation revitalized.

In March, Busan City established and is operating "Dream Step," a dedicated support center for children and youth victims of sex trafficking, at the Sasang-gu Youth Comprehensive Support Center.

In the second half of this year, a Youth Independence Support Center will be established to support housing and independence for late adolescents. Various services such as protection for youth outside the home, prevention and restorative mediation of school violence, and sex education tailored to youth perspectives will be provided through youth shelters, school violence prevention and recovery mediation centers, and sexual culture centers.

Third, efforts will be made to improve harmful environments for youth and strengthen protection support.

This year, due to the implementation of non-face-to-face online classes amid COVID-19, increased time spent at home raises concerns about youth's internet and smartphone overdependence and depression.

Busan City will expand projects such as ▲youth internet and smartphone overdependence healing programs ▲non-face-to-face counseling welfare services, and operate ▲youth harmful environment monitoring teams to preemptively block harmful factors.

Finally, to help youth facing social and economic difficulties grow healthily, various welfare supports will be expanded.

Special youth support will provide cash and goods in eight areas including living, academics, and independence, and health support will provide sanitary products to 7,623 low-income female youth aged 11 to 18.

Additionally, as a new project, youth who leave youth shelters will receive a monthly independence allowance of 300,000 KRW for three years after discharge.

Busan Mayor Park Hyung-jun said, "By building a dense youth safety net, we will quickly detect various crisis factors faced by youth and provide various customized integrated services to support at-risk youth to grow into healthy members of society."

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