[Interview] Lee Seongheon, Seodaemun District Mayor, "Achieving 100% Resident Happiness with Life Care Services"

Implementation of Comprehensive Support Plan for Family Care Youth and Adolescents... Operation of Independent Living Experience Housing for Children Scheduled to Exit Protection... Welfare Patrol Team and Local Care Groups Inspect Every Corner of the Village... Checking on Vulnerable Elderly Living Alone through Milk Delivery... Pilot Project for Welfare Registered Mail to Identify At-Risk Households

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “We will establish systematic welfare policies that warmly embrace the lives of district residents. We will shift the district office’s core focus from administrative services to life care and comprehensively and systematically organize scattered welfare policies.”

Seongheon Lee, Mayor of Seodaemun District, emphasized this vision for welfare in his inaugural speech for the 8th elected term. To build a welfare system that cares for residents’ entire lives across all age groups, in July, the district placed the ‘Life Care TF’ as one of the four task forces under the ‘Seodaemun Happiness 100% Promotion Team.’ This reflects the mayor’s keen interest in welfare. Although less than six months have passed since his inauguration, meaningful achievements have been continuously made. One example is the identification and support of family caregiving adolescents and youth, known as ‘Young Carers.’ Since October this year, Seodaemun District has been the first nationwide to provide these individuals with services such as Care SOS Service, Mind Care Kits, educational and nursing expenses, psychological testing, and mental health counseling.

To establish a legal basis, the district is also promoting the enactment of the ‘Seodaemun District Family Caregiving Adolescents and Youth Support Ordinance.’ This project has been recognized for “actively identifying Young Carers and providing systematic support beyond the limitations of application-based welfare” and was selected as an ‘Excellent Case of Civil Service Improvement’ by Seoul citizens at the end of this year. Mayor Lee stated, “We will develop specialized projects for Young Carers so that youth do not have to give up their future to care for their families. We will also strive to identify beneficiaries and support various services through collaboration with private organizations.”

In September, the district also became the first nationwide to start operating the ‘Independent Living Experience Housing for Facility-Protected Children’ in a building in Cheonnyeon-dong. Four studio apartments have been prepared here, and a ‘Living Alone Experience’ program is underway. The target group is adolescents about to leave six child welfare facilities in the area. The district prepared this project to help them adapt to life after leaving the facilities. The living period here is about one month, and they receive 500,000 KRW in living expenses. Using the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s ‘Independent Living Experience Workbook,’ they create plans for daily life, self-protection, money management, and career planning, and experience living according to these plans. Additionally, a ‘Community Manager’ works in a separate office within the same building to support the activities and safety of the adolescents living in the independent living experience housing. Mayor Lee said, “We operate the independent living experience housing so that adolescents who must leave facilities when they become adults can reduce their fear of independence and feel the need to prepare themselves. From next year, we plan to extend the experience period to a maximum of three months.”

In November and December, the district also conducted a full survey to early identify blind spots for children aging out of protection. In November this year, in a studio apartment in Sinchon, the lives of a mother and daughter in their 60s and 30s ended due to financial hardship. Mayor Lee said, “Socially isolated households are continuously increasing due to the weakening of family-centered caregiving functions. We will do our best to establish a dense community safety net to identify and support households in crisis so that tragic incidents like the Sinchon mother and daughter case do not happen again.”

Accordingly, the district will operate a Welfare Patrol Team and Local Care Group from January next year after preparation in December to identify households in crisis and prevent solitary deaths in welfare blind spots. The Welfare Patrol Team consists of members of local professional organizations and honorary social welfare officers who are familiar with the neighborhood. They patrol designated neighborhood areas on assigned days, checking for signs of resident crises, such as mailboxes piled with unpaid bills.

The district plans to expand the number of honorary social welfare officers participating from about 3,300 to about 8,400. To this end, gas, water, and electricity meter readers and yogurt delivery workers will be regularly commissioned quarterly. To enhance the effectiveness of the project, they will also receive training on the ‘Welfare Blind Spot Identification and Reporting Manual.’

The district will also appoint neighborhood association leaders and block chiefs as members of the Local Care Group to strengthen their role in identifying welfare blind spots. Furthermore, to proactively identify vulnerable households living in motels, small rooms, rooftop rooms, and socially isolated households, a welfare network involving about 740 real estate agencies in the area will be newly established this month. Mayor Lee said, “We plan to actively communicate with related ministries and affiliated organizations to secure information on utility bill arrears based on actual residence rather than registered residence.”

Additionally, since December, Seodaemun District has partnered with the nonprofit organization ‘Milk Delivery Checking on the Elderly’ to deliver milk twice a week to 100 low-income elderly single-person households. Mayor Lee said, “If milk accumulates, the district office and community service centers will check on the health and safety of the recipients. The number of target households is expected to gradually increase.”

The ‘Welfare Registered Mail Pilot Project,’ conducted in cooperation with Seodaemun Post Office and the Post Office Public Interest Foundation for two months from late October, also attracted attention. When the district sends registered mail containing ‘Welfare Project Information’ to households showing signs of crisis, postal workers inspect the living environment and conditions, fill out a crisis investigation checklist, and send it to the district office. Mayor Lee said, “In 2023, the practical first year of the 8th elected term, we will never forget the socially vulnerable and will work harder to realize ‘Seodaemun 100% Resident Happiness’ through life care services tailored to the age and characteristics of welfare recipients.”

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