[Interview] Moon Seok-jin, Seodaemun District Mayor, "Accelerating the Establishment of a Welfare Safety Net for Youth Family Caregivers"

원본보기 아이콘

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “We will establish a one-stop care support system that proactively identifies ‘young carers’?those who take on family care and nursing responsibilities but have not received help from existing welfare systems?through close cooperation among public sectors, local communities, and frontline schools, and connect them with essential welfare resources.”

Moon Seok-jin, Mayor of Seodaemun District, cited ‘welfare’ as a key project for the last quarter of the 7th local government term in an interview with this publication.

Mayor Moon has regarded ‘welfare as the work of linking a society’s economic growth to social integration’ and has made welfare a major focus of district administration for 12 years from the 5th to the 7th local government terms.

He was the first in the nation to implement the ‘Dong Welfare Hub Project,’ which became the foundation for Seoul’s Chit-dong project and the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Eup-Myeon-Dong Welfare Hub project. The project discovers private welfare resources and connects them one-on-one to residents in need. The initial goal of supporting 100 households has been far exceeded, with a steady push toward a target of 1,004 households.

Continuing this approach, last year the district became the first local government nationwide to carry out a three-stage project on young carers?legally defining family caregiving youth and adolescents, conducting status surveys, and devising support measures.

Mayor Moon said, “As single-parent families increase and low birth rates and aging intensify, the number of young people burdened with parental care will continue to rise. Until now, young carers were referred to as child heads of households and regarded as temporary objects of attention and charity. Going forward, the state and local governments must strengthen systems to take responsibility for their family care.”

The district was recently recognized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare as a leading local government for the young carer project. Together, they will operate a policy consultative body, conduct surveys, and collaborate on pilot projects to concretize support models.

Both institutions will identify ‘family caregiving youth’ in Seodaemun District and provide customized support linked to existing welfare systems.

They will also connect village lawyers to support administrative and legal services for ‘family caregiving youth’ and operate care support home nursing visitation services and senior-tailored care services.

Mayor Moon emphasized, “The sacrifices of young carers can cause social problems and inequality beyond individual burdens. We will closely cooperate with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and actively develop and implement various policies within the district to ensure young people do not give up their futures to care for their families.”

The district will build a welfare safety net for young carers through related ordinance enactment, comprehensive welfare counseling based on the ‘Health and Welfare Integrated Service Manual,’ emergency support for medical and living expenses, emotional stability support to alleviate isolation, and ‘discharge patient linkage’ in cooperation with local hospitals.

Furthermore, they plan to develop a ‘young carer customized welfare system’ by forming a group of child and adolescent experts to provide career counseling, vocational education, job linkage, and mental health support.

Seodaemun District also supports ‘social first step allowances’ and housing rent for local care-leaving children (young people preparing for independence) who must become independent at age 18 from child care facilities and group homes, making it the first autonomous district in Seoul to implement such measures. They are also promoting the so-called ‘Making My Neighborhood My Room’ project.

When the unprecedented online school opening occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the district was the first nationwide to provide laptops and tablet PCs to students eligible for educational welfare to prevent the digital divide from becoming an educational gap.

Additionally, to bridge the digital divide, they dispatched ‘digital tutors’ to local elementary, middle, and high schools for the first time nationwide, and this year, they plan to expand this project to senior centers.

One of the proud achievements of Mayor Moon’s administration is the ‘Ansang Jarak-gil Trail’ development, which resulted from efforts to improve welfare and mobility rights for vulnerable groups such as the disabled and elderly.

Regarding this, Mayor Moon said, “Like the young carer project, policies that do not improve residents’ welfare should not be rationalized, nor should welfare and other policies be treated separately. This has been a consistent philosophy of our district administration.” He concluded, “If public officials maintain a sensitivity that regards social welfare issues as their own and elicit empathy from those around them, they will gain the strength to develop and implement related policies and see fruitful results. I hope public officials always uphold this attitude.”

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.