Gwangju City Publishes Comprehensive Survey Policy Proposal on Homelessness and Related Issues

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 5th that the Dasi Seogi Comprehensive Support Center has published a policy proposal report based on a comprehensive survey of homeless people.

The homeless policy proposal was promoted to be published in order to establish customized welfare service policies for the homeless.

In particular, since its opening in April, the Dasi Seogi Comprehensive Support Center conducted a comprehensive survey of homeless people in the area for four months and included the results of analyzing residence, duration of homelessness, and other factors in this policy proposal report.

The survey subjects included 57 facility homeless people, 19 temporarily housed homeless people, 14 street homeless people, and 157 social welfare officials, totaling 249 people.

Among them, 37.3% of the facility homeless had been admitted for more than 20 years, and 32.2% had been admitted for between 5 and 20 years.

Accordingly, it was found necessary to prepare mid- to long-term plans and measures regarding the aging and prolonged admission of facility homeless people in the area and the trend toward lifelong residence facilities.

The average exclusive residential area of temporarily housed homeless people was 3.44 pyeong, and the average monthly rent was 189,500 KRW. The preferred relocation areas were general housing monthly rent and lease (57.1%) and government-supported rental housing (42.9%).

Also, the center identified 30 street homeless people (26 men, 4 women) in the survey, and the average duration of homelessness among the street homeless who participated in the survey was 7.44 years.

The homeless areas were mainly subway stations, train stations, terminals, parks and green spaces, and riversides, indicating an urgent need to establish a protection system to prevent chronic homelessness and strengthen on-site support systems for street homeless people.

In addition, social welfare officials and workers recognized that support services for homeless people in the area were generally weak, and regarding future homeless projects to be promoted, 57% responded that “self-reliance support projects” were the most needed.

Based on the survey results, the center proposed policies including ▲establishing a one-stop support service system for homeless people in Gwangju ▲strengthening the functions of homeless welfare facilities by type ▲the necessity of revising city ordinances for regular comprehensive surveys of homeless people ▲customized support for homeless people ▲and securing the human rights and health rights of homeless people.

Additionally, 150 copies of the published homeless policy proposal report will be distributed to Gwangju administrative agencies, welfare facilities, and nationwide homeless comprehensive support centers to be used for improving homeless welfare services.

Yoon Jongcheol, director of the Gwangju Dasi Seogi Comprehensive Support Center, said, “Based on the contents of the newly published homeless policy proposal, we will actively promote homeless welfare projects in Gwangju Metropolitan City,” and added, “We will faithfully fulfill the role of a control tower through systematic information management of homeless welfare services.”

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