Nowon-gu Wins Award for Establishing Public-Centered 'Child Protection System'

Awarded Grand Prize in Ministry of Health and Welfare's Child Protection System Excellence Evaluation with Participation from 229 Local Governments Nationwide
...Nation's First Direct Operation of Child Protection Specialized Agency and Strengthened Public-Private Cooperation System to Establish a Flawless Local Child Protection System... Contributing to the Safety, Happiness, and Rights of Local Children through Customized Services for Each Child

Nowon-gu, Seoul (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it won the grand prize in the ‘2023 Excellent Region Evaluation for Establishing a Child Protection System’ on the 21st of last month.

The evaluation focused on local governments’ interest and concrete support measures for building a public child protection system, including ▲expansion of child protection teams and dedicated personnel ▲operation of case decision committees ▲provision of child protection services. Nowon-gu achieved excellent results in all indicators, earning the grand prize.

First, since 2018, Nowon-gu has been the first basic local government nationwide to directly operate a child protection specialized agency, establishing a public-centered child protection system and continuously expanding dedicated personnel to steadily enhance expertise.

Currently, Nowon-gu has a total of 30 full-time staff, including 8 child abuse dedicated public officials, 6 child protection dedicated personnel, 14 case managers, and 2 facility managers, enabling rapid information sharing among them for early detection and prompt response to abused children.

In addition, the district has strengthened the ‘Child Welfare Deliberation Committee (Case Decision Committee)’ by recruiting private experts in related fields such as children with disabilities and domestic violence, establishing a practical public-private cooperation system and promoting both quantitative and qualitative improvements in child protection services. The Child Welfare Deliberation Committee formulates policies for children in need of protection and decides on the selection and support of target children. Since it holds face-to-face meetings once a month for thorough discussions, it can provide the best services to children requiring protection.

In fact, the district utilizes this detailed integrated protection system to discover and provide various child protection services. Representative cases of customized support for protected children include ▲the family reunification program for children separated from their original families and admitted to facilities, and ▲the professional mentor linkage project for children aging out of care (youth preparing for independence) who have lived in protective facilities or foster families due to abuse.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “This award is the result of deeply feeling the local government’s responsibility for public care and focusing our capabilities on preventing child abuse and protecting children in need of protection. We will continue to do our best so that all children in Nowon can grow up safely and happily.”

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