"Interest in Foster Care"... Incheon City Expands Support for Childcare Expenses and More

Incheon City Hall

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City announced on the 19th that it will continuously recruit foster families and expand support such as childcare expenses to revitalize the foster care protection project.

Foster care protection is a child welfare service that helps children who cannot be cared for in their biological families due to the death, illness, imprisonment, or abuse of their biological parents to live in foster families for a certain period and return when their biological family situation recovers.

Currently, 427 children are under foster care protection in 348 households in Incheon.

The city is making efforts to recruit general foster parents and specialized foster parents who can care for children requiring special care such as disabilities or abuse, to quickly connect children in need of protection to suitable families.

To become a foster parent, one must meet the selection criteria under the Child Welfare Act, complete foster parent training, and pass a home environment investigation to be certified. Applications can be made anytime through the Incheon Foster Care Support Center.

Additionally, the city plans to expand support such as childcare expenses for children under protection to reduce the economic burden on foster parents and activate the foster care system.

Childcare expenses for foster children aged 7 and older will be increased from the current 300,000 KRW per month to 400,000 KRW, and protection expenses for children in specialized foster families will be raised from 300,000 KRW to 1,000,000 KRW per month. Furthermore, a one-time payment of 1,000,000 KRW for purchasing children's supplies will be provided.

Meanwhile, since 2003, the Incheon Foster Care Support Center has been connecting children who have difficulty being protected within their biological families to foster families to support their healthy and safe growth, and provides professional services to foster parents, foster children, and families.

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