Ministry of Gender Equality to Expand High-Risk Youth Psychological Clinics Nationwide to 240 Locations

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced on the 23rd that the 'High-Risk Youth Intensive Psychological Clinic' project will be expanded and operated at 240 Youth Counseling and Welfare Centers nationwide starting in March.

The Korea Youth Counseling and Welfare Institute has been piloting the High-Risk Youth Intensive Psychological Clinic from 2018 until last year.

As a result of verifying the program's effectiveness on participating youth, improvements were observed in areas of suicide risk, self-harm risk, and problem behaviors.

From the second half of this year, clinical psychologists will be assigned to Youth Counseling and Welfare Centers to enable immediate comprehensive psychological evaluations.

Previously, the process of linking comprehensive psychological evaluations to external specialized institutions took a lot of time and involved testing cost burdens.

Before the full-scale expansion, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Korea Youth Counseling and Welfare Institute will hold an explanatory session on the customized support project for high-risk youth on the 24th at Space Moa near Seoul Station. The session will be attended by center directors and project team leaders from Youth Counseling and Welfare Centers in 17 metropolitan cities and provinces.

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