Seoul City to Reduce Water Bills for 100,000 Severely Disabled Households... 'Dolbom SOS Center' Operating in 425 Buildings

Aging Population and Ongoing COVID-19 Spread... Ensuring Safety, Care, and Customized Welfare for Everyone to Enjoy a Stable Life

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Under the goal of "ensuring that all citizens can enjoy a stable life" amid rapid aging and the spread of COVID-19, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will operate more detailed welfare policies throughout this year. The focus is on "Safety," guaranteeing uninterrupted care services; "Care," eliminating welfare blind spots; and "Customized" welfare, strengthening support tailored to the needs of recipients.

On the 8th, Seoul announced the '2022 Changes in Seoul Welfare,' including ▲establishing a support system for a ‘Safe Age-Friendly City’ Seoul ▲strengthening customized support systems for the disabled and low-income groups ▲supporting young wounded veterans and enhancing the treatment of national merit recipients ▲full-scale operation of 425 Care SOS Centers across districts.

Seoul will further strengthen the customized support system to practically reduce the daily burdens faced by the disabled and low-income groups. First, new support will be provided to ease the daily mobility and living expenses of the disabled. Low-income disabled individuals using electric wheelchairs, scooters, etc., will receive 100,000 KRW per person for electric assistive device repair costs. Water bills for 100,000 households of severely disabled persons (previously targeting grades 1 to 3) will also be discounted starting from the May payment this year.

The ‘Brain Lesion Disabled Vision Center,’ which comprehensively manages education, health, and care for brain lesion disabled persons, was first opened nationwide in March last year in Mapo-gu. This year, two additional centers will be established in Guro-gu and Nowon-gu to improve regional accessibility. The age range for disposable absorbent products for brain lesion disabled persons with urinary and fecal incontinence has been expanded from the previous 3 to 54 years to 64 years.

Support for stable employment, which is the foundation of independence for the disabled, will also be strengthened. Following the provision of 3,410 public jobs last year, this year Seoul will strive to provide quality public jobs reflecting the diverse needs of the disabled, including about 4,000 public jobs, private employment, and jobs at vocational rehabilitation facilities.

Jobs for middle-aged and elderly people will also be expanded. Seoul will increase public jobs for the elderly to 76,135, including social service jobs such as home support for vulnerable groups and safety management at elementary after-school care facilities, aiming to reduce livelihood burdens and promote social contribution simultaneously. Additionally, customized support housing for the homeless will be expanded from 196 units last year to 258 units this year to help homeless people live in stable housing.

Support systems for young wounded veterans will be strengthened. Starting in March, seven support projects across four key areas will be launched to help young wounded veterans aged 19 to 39 lead healthy lives again. The seven projects in four areas include ▲one-stop counseling centers ▲legal consultation support ▲psychological and mental health support ▲self-help group support ▲startup and job support ▲establishment of the Nara Sarang Youth Award ▲operation of the exhibition hall for war and injury merit recipients.

The scope of recipients for the veterans’ honor allowance and veterans’ welfare allowance will be expanded. About 13,000 disabled veterans and victims of Agent Orange who were previously unsupported among veterans aged 65 and older and democratization and special mission merit recipients will now be included, bringing the total number of recipients to about 44,000.

The ‘Care SOS Center’ will be fully implemented in 425 districts across Seoul. Starting this year, it will expand to all 25 autonomous districts, providing emergency care services to citizens who need daily help due to sudden accidents or illnesses. The center offers customized care services in a total of 10 areas. Any citizen in need of daily assistance can receive support through their local community service center. If they are aged 50 or older, disabled, or have a median income of 100% or less (monthly income of 1,944,812 KRW for a single-person household), Seoul will cover the costs.

The criteria for Seoul-type emergency welfare support have also been relaxed to a median income of 100% and assets of 379 million KRW or less, lowering the threshold. Previously, the criteria were a median income of 85% (monthly income of 1,653,090 KRW for a single-person household) and assets of 310 million KRW or less. The relaxed criteria for Seoul-type emergency welfare will be maintained until the infectious disease crisis alert level is downgraded from severe.

Gu Jong-won, Director of Welfare Planning at Seoul City, said, “We feel the need to evolve welfare services in response to various changes in the welfare environment, such as the spread of COVID-19, deepening inequality, and the advent of a super-aged society. Seoul will implement detailed Seoul-type welfare to become a reliable support so that vulnerable groups and crisis households, especially those suffering during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, can safely pass through the dark tunnel.”

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