Daejeon City Supports 'Standing Alone' for Out-of-Home Youth

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City supports the independent living of out-of-home youth.

The city announced on the 2nd that it will promote the ‘Youth Independence Support Center’ project to assist youth who face difficulties in becoming self-reliant after leaving youth shelters.

The Youth Independence Support Center was established as a youth welfare facility in Dunsan-dong, Seo-gu, to help youth under the age of 24 who have left shelters or are struggling to secure housing achieve stable independence.

The project is being implemented this year after the city was finally selected for the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s national funding support project for Youth Independence Support Centers.

According to government announcements, while the domestic youth population continues to decline, more than 20,000 out-of-home youth newly emerge annually.

However, since the shelter protection period is limited to three years, youth leaving shelters often fall into welfare blind spots.

Accordingly, the city plans to strengthen support for housing, finances, education, and employment through the Youth Independence Support Center to help out-of-home youth become truly independent.

In particular, the Youth Independence Support Center operates as a usage-type facility, meaning youth do not stay at the center itself but live in independent housing while receiving support services, which is an advantage.

To ensure stable housing for youth, the center supports monthly rent or connects them with housing support projects such as LH, while also providing educational expenses to assist with job preparation such as obtaining certifications.

The city also plans to run a specialized project in cooperation with the social cooperative Malrae Workshop, offering woodworking training and internships to out-of-home youth, and selling products made at the workshop to support vulnerable groups in the community.

The maximum usage period of the Youth Independence Support Center is two years, and applications for support can be made regardless of whether the youth have left shelters or recovery support facilities.

Park Moon-yong, Director of the Youth and Family Bureau of the city, said, "Many at-risk youth wander after leaving shelters without being able to return to their families or society. Through the Youth Independence Support Center project, the city will do its best to help out-of-home youth safely enter society.”

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