Gwangju Disabled Parents Solidarity "Support Needed Throughout the Life of People with Developmental Disabilities"

"More than 20 hours of support needed, but reality is the opposite"

Suggestions include assigning work specialists and expanding housing services

Parents of people with disabilities in the Gwangju area called for the establishment of a rights-based support system throughout the entire life cycle for people with developmental disabilities.

The Gwangju Parents' Association for the Disabled held a rally in front of Gwangju City Hall on the 12th, voicing demands for people with developmental disabilities to live within the local community.
[Photo by Min Hyun-gi]

The Gwangju Parents' Solidarity for People with Disabilities held a rally in front of Gwangju City Hall on the 12th, urging, "Please allow people with developmental disabilities to live as citizens in the local community without exclusion, doing what they want with whom they want, through the placement of specialized officers for developmental disability affairs and the expansion of housing services."

According to materials from Assemblywoman Kang Seon-woo of the Democratic Party of Korea, mentioned by the group that day, a recent survey of 4,333 families of people with developmental disabilities showed that 26.3% of respondents answered that "support for more than 20 hours a day is needed."

Among them, only 0.1% of the total respondents said they "receive services for more than 20 hours."

The group appealed, "The survey results are leading to a 'tragedy,'" adding, "In 2020, there was a tragic incident involving families of people with developmental disabilities in Gwangju, and nationwide, there are ongoing cases where families of people with developmental disabilities are killed and the caregivers themselves make extreme choices. Experts describe this as a foreseeable 'social homicide.'"

They continued, "Gwangju was once a place where policies envied nationwide were created, such as the implementation of the nation's first intensive integrated care project for the most severe cases in 2021, but the crisis shelter for people with developmental disabilities was quietly closed, and the residential experience and emergency care centers disappeared due to overlapping projects," pointing out, "Various problems have occurred, such as the disbandment of the transition support team within the Developmental Disability Support Center, but Gwangju City has failed to present solutions."

After concluding the rally, the group delivered a proposal for establishing a support system for people with developmental disabilities to the Gwangju City authorities.

The proposal reportedly includes ▲placement of specialized officers to oversee and carry out developmental disability-related tasks ▲expansion and diversification of housing models ▲expansion of housing services ▲formulation of concrete plans for the intensive integrated care project for the most severe cases ▲introduction of community-based behavioral support services ▲designation of multi-support institutions for daytime activity services ▲measures to guarantee health rights and medical access.

The group began a regional tour in Gyeongnam on the 10th and plans to visit Jeonnam on the 13th, followed by a nationwide focused struggle on the 20th, the Day for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities.

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