Changwon Special City Strengthens Comprehensive Support for Isolated and Reclusive Youth

New Projects Added Including Choir and Self-Help Groups
Focus on Improving Social Awareness

Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam announced on the 21st that it will establish a systematic discovery system and implement support policies to encourage stable social participation of local youth who are experiencing social, economic, and psychological difficulties due to an increase in the number of isolated and reclusive youth caused by reduced social contact opportunities.

Choi Young-sook, the Youth Policy Officer, is giving a briefing.

According to the 'Youth Isolation Survey' conducted by the Changwon Welfare Foundation in 2023, it was confirmed that 2.6% of respondents (estimated about 6,400 people) are youth who do not attend school, academies, or workplaces and rarely go out.

In response, Changwon City plans to focus this year on discovering those who need practical support and activating participation programs for psychological and emotional support, starting with the establishment of the institutional basis, the 'Ordinance on Support for Socially Isolated Youth in Changwon City,' in August last year.

The main projects include ▲ policy forums on support for isolated and reclusive youth ▲ research on youth isolation experiences and intervention methods ▲ customized participation programs (choir, relationship building) ▲ small self-help groups (youth, parents), among others.

The policy forum to be held in April will feature discussions by academic experts and field workers to shift social perceptions of isolated and reclusive youth. At the same time, special lectures based on actual cases of isolated and reclusive youth will be conducted, which is expected to spread social empathy and increase interest in these youth.

Additionally, by establishing a self-isolation diagnosis menu within the Changwon Youth Information Platform where youth can assess their own level of isolation, a systematic system has been created to discover isolated and reclusive youth and link them to various projects and survey participation. The Mind On-Off app (Changwon Mental Health Welfare Center) has also been enhanced by adding a youth isolation diagnosis menu to strengthen the discovery system.

The Youth Vision Center has organized the relationship-building program 'Youth Recovery Ground,' which was selected in a contest hosted by the Youth Foundation last year, as a regular project this year, and is operating the 'Youth Recovery Choir' as a new project to expand participatory programs for isolated and reclusive youth. In the second half of the year, self-help groups for youth and their families will be held to support psychological stability and family relationship recovery.

Choi Young-sook, the youth policy officer, said, “We will systematically support various projects to ensure that isolated and reclusive youth do not isolate themselves from society and can participate in society and have guaranteed entry opportunities like general youth.”

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