Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Expands 'At-Risk Youth Support Project'... Discusses Strengthening Cooperation with Local Governments

On the 25th, Local Governments and Youth Safety Net Leading Project Briefing
Expansion of 20 Customized Programs for Youth Safety Net and High-Risk Youth

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is expanding the 'Youth Safety Net,' which provides integrated support for at-risk youth, and the 'High-Risk Youth Program,' a customized support service.

On the 24th, the Ministry announced that it will hold an online briefing session for the local government Youth Safety Net pilot project on the 25th at 2 p.m. to share best practices and discuss the direction of the 2022 project.

The Youth Safety Net team consists of dedicated public officials and youth integrated case managers from local governments who form specialized organizations to identify at-risk youth, provide linkage services with support agencies, and conduct surveys on the status of at-risk youth in their regions.

Last year, the Youth Safety Net team operated in 14 local governments, and this year, six additional locations were selected. The newly selected areas are Gijang-gun in Busan, Namdong-gu in Incheon, Buk-gu in Gwangju, Iksan-si in Jeonbuk, and Gumi-si and Gyeongju-si in Gyeongbuk.

As a best practice, the Youth Safety Net team in Songpa-gu, Seoul, collaborated with Korea National Sport University to operate a sports advisory (mentoring) project that provided sports activities and character education programs for high-risk youth.

The customized program for high-risk youth offers region-specific tailored services for high-risk youth facing crisis situations such as suicide or self-harm. Last year, it was operated at 16 Youth Counseling and Welfare Centers. The Ministry plans to expand the number of operating institutions to 20 this year.

At the Saha-gu Youth Counseling and Welfare Center in Busan, a high-risk multicultural youth support program (Didimdol) was operated, tailored to the characteristics of an area with many multicultural families. To overcome language barriers, play therapy, art therapy, and horticultural therapy were utilized, and counseling tailored to the individual characteristics of each youth was provided to resolve crisis situations.

Kim Kwon-young, Director of Youth Policy at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, said, "We will gradually expand the Youth Safety Net teams to eliminate regional disparities in support for at-risk youth and strengthen cooperation with local governments to ensure that the Youth Safety Net operates more effectively."

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