Ministry of Health and Welfare to Conduct Emergency Inspection of 5,000 Children with Long-term Absences or Protection Termination by Next Month

Discovering Children in Care Blind Spots Beyond Existing Support Targets

Cho Gyu-hong, the 1st Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, visited Jongchon Public Regional Child Center in Sejong City on the 26th to inspect the status of child protection and listen to the opinions of related experts and institution workers.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Recently, in response to the extreme choices made by young adults preparing for independence from orphanages, the government has launched an urgent inspection of the child protection system.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 26th, in addition to the previously identified at-risk children, the government plans to find approximately 5,000 more children showing signs such as long-term absenteeism, children who have aged out of institutional care, and high poverty indicators, and conduct home visits by the end of next month.

The government analyzes 44 types of social security data to identify 25,000 to 30,000 at-risk children quarterly and connects them with necessary welfare services. To prevent blind spots, an urgent inspection will be conducted on types with a high need for welfare systems.

Although long-term absenteeism and aging out of institutional care are included in the existing analyzed data, children fitting these categories may not be selected as at-risk children within the system.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has advanced the third-quarter at-risk children inspection schedule, originally set to end in late September, to be completed by the 16th of next month. Additionally, post-management counseling for children who have aged out of care, initially planned until the end of the year, will be conducted early by October.

Furthermore, in the fourth quarter, a full survey will be conducted on three-year-old children (born in 2018) who are not attending daycare centers or kindergartens and are being cared for at home, to check their caregiving and emotional development status, signs of abuse, and provide necessary health and welfare services.

On the same day, First Vice Minister Jo Gyu-hong visited the Jongchon Public Regional Child Center in Sejong City to inspect the child protection status. Director Choi Jong-gyun of the Population Policy Office at the Ministry of Health and Welfare also visited the Gwangju Independence Support Agency to inspect the post-management system before and after aging out of care and explore additional independence support measures.

Next week, meetings are planned including an expert roundtable on the child protection system chaired by First Vice Minister Jo, a meeting chaired by Director Choi with child protection specialized agencies, child abuse dedicated medical institutions, and core psychological support teams, as well as a meeting with the self-help group of young adults preparing for independence, the 'Baramgaebi Supporters.'

First Vice Minister Jo said, "We ask for active interest and support from local governments and related organizations so that tragic incidents like the case of the university student from an orphanage never happen again," adding, "We will listen carefully to the voices of the field, experts, and those involved to prepare additional supplementary measures."

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