From Emergency Care to Counseling and Education... Seoul City Opens 'Disabled Family Support Centers' in 25 Districts

The 25th 'Disabled Family Support Center' Opens in Yangcheon-gu... Established in All Districts
Integrated Case Management Reflecting Challenges of Disabled Families to Alleviate Care Burden and Psychological Difficulties

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul’s ‘Disability Family Support Center,’ specialized in supporting families with disabled members, will be expanded to all 25 autonomous districts.

On the 13th, Seoul announced that the 25th ‘Disability Family Support Center’ will open on the 15th in Yangcheon-gu. This completes the system of one metropolitan center and 25 basic centers, starting with the first center (Gwangjin-gu) opened in 2017, the first of its kind nationwide. Seoul is the first city to establish a ‘Disability Family Support Center’ in every basic local government.

The ‘Disability Family Support Center’ is a specialized institution that provides care services and various programs tailored to the characteristics of each family to alleviate the social and psychological difficulties experienced by families with disabled members and improve their quality of life. Unlike existing case management that focuses on the disabled individual, it offers integrated case management for the entire family.

In particular, the emergency care services provided by centers in all 25 districts greatly help reduce the caregiving burden on families with disabled members. These services reflect the voices from the field that care services are needed when urgent situations arise for the main caregiving family member, and are operated in two forms: daily care and holiday care.

Meanwhile, the ‘Metropolitan Disability Family Support Center,’ which serves as the control tower overseeing the 25 basic Disability Family Support Centers, has been promoting the ‘COVID-19 Special Case Management Project’ since this month to support families with disabled members who are facing relatively greater crises due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Kang Sun-mi, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Disability Independence Support Division, said, “With the opening of the 25th center in Yangcheon-gu, where there was no Disability Family Support Center until now, we expect to ease the burden on caregiving families who have found it difficult to have leisure in their lives while caring for disabled family members.” She added, “Through the Disability Family Support Centers established in all 25 autonomous districts, we will provide family-centered customized services and actively support families with disabled members to live together with the local community.”