Gwangju City Promotes Operation of Independent Living Experience Homes for People with Mental Disabilities

Mental Health Welfare Center and Disabled Independent Living Center Sign Business Agreement

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] The Gwangju Metropolitan Mental Health Welfare Center announced on the 26th that it has signed a business agreement with the Gwangju Disabled Independent Living Center to establish a stable housing support system and support independent living for people with mental disabilities.

According to last year's survey on the status of independent living support for people with mental illnesses and their families in Gwangju Metropolitan City, 58% of the individuals with mental illness and 51.7% of their families expressed a desire for community-based independent living, and identified integrated service support such as community residence, treatment, and rehabilitation as the most necessary.

Accordingly, the two organizations agreed to mutually cooperate on pilot operation of independent living experience homes for people with mental disabilities and development of a Gwangju-type model, activities for community integration and awareness improvement of people with mental disabilities, and policy and legal revision activities necessary for people with mental disabilities.

In particular, Gwangju City plans to start with the pilot operation of independent living experience homes for people with mental disabilities, develop an operation manual for the experience homes, prepare independent living support programs for people with mental disabilities, and foster peer independent living supporters.

Gwangju City's housing welfare policy for people with disabilities has been actively progressing since the enactment of the Severe Disabled Independent Living Support Ordinance in 2006, including operation of independent housing for deinstitutionalized disabled persons and rental housing for people with developmental disabilities. However, under Article 15 of the Disabled Welfare Act, people with mental disabilities have not been able to receive related benefits.

Im Jin-seok, Director of the City Health Policy Division, said, "This agreement is very meaningful as it is the first step toward full-scale projects in the community for people with mental disabilities who have been in the blind spot of housing welfare policies. We will continue to actively strive for the stable settlement and social integration of people with mental disabilities in the community."

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