Seoul City Supports Homeless People in Applying for and Receiving COVID-19 Coexistence National Support Fund

Start of Offline Application for National Support Fund: Active Promotion of Application Support for Homeless People on the Streets
Operation of Consultation Desks at 3 Comprehensive Support Centers for Homeless People in Homeless Concentration Areas such as Seoul Station

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 14th, Seoul City announced that it will support the entire process from application to receipt of the National Support Fund to ensure that homeless people on the streets, who find it difficult to apply for the fund due to lack of information, are not excluded from receiving the National Support Fund.

During last year's national emergency disaster relief fund support, many homeless people on the streets did not receive the disaster relief fund due to reasons such as not knowing how to apply or finding the application process cumbersome.

In fact, according to Seoul City's first monitoring result in May last year during the distribution of the national emergency disaster relief fund, only 36.0% of homeless people on the streets responded that they had received the disaster relief fund. As a result, in August last year, a disaster relief fund application support desk was operated at the Homeless Comprehensive Support Center, and active assistance was provided in filling out applications, increasing the receipt rate of the disaster relief fund among homeless people on the streets to 53.1%, a 17.1 percentage point increase.

This year, Seoul City plans to actively support homeless people on the streets to ensure they are not excluded from receiving the support fund. Dedicated consultation desks will be set up at three Homeless Comprehensive Support Centers in areas with high concentrations of homeless people such as Seoul Station, Yongsan Station, Yeongdeungpo Station, and City Hall/Euljiro, assisting with everything from application guidance to filling out forms and submitting them to the local community service centers. If necessary, they will accompany applicants to the community service centers.

First, to actively guide the application for the National Support Fund, leaflets will be created and distributed to homeless people during street consultations, and active promotion will be conducted through facility bulletin boards. At the prepaid card receipt stage, if same-day receipt is difficult, the Comprehensive Support Center will receive contact from each community service center and directly inform the individual to prevent cases where homeless people cannot be contacted due to lack of a mobile phone or other contact information. Since people without a fixed residence can apply for the National Support Fund at the community service center in their current jurisdiction, active guidance will be provided to prevent them from giving up on applying due to lack of awareness.

Additionally, if the resident registration address as of the support criteria date, June 30, is outside Seoul, the city plans to assist in changing the address through admission to homeless facilities or temporary housing support, and to help apply for the National Support Fund through objections related to address changes.

For homeless people on the streets who cannot apply due to cancellation of resident registration or lack of a resident ID card (identification), support will be provided for reissuance of the resident ID card. Each Homeless Comprehensive Support Center will support taking ID photos and cover the reissuance fee (5,000 won).

Kang Jae-shin, Director of Seoul City's Self-Support Division, said, “The COVID-19 coexistence National Support Fund is a system that supports almost all citizens to overcome the COVID-19 crisis, but there may be cases where homeless people on the streets cannot apply due to lack of information. Seoul City will actively support as many homeless people as possible to apply for and receive the National Support Fund, and along with vaccination for homeless people, will also actively work to support their self-reliance.”

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