Daejeon City Provides Educational Disaster Relief Funds for 'Out-of-School Youth'

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City announced on the 26th that it will extend the application period for the ‘Out-of-School Youth Education Disaster Relief Fund’ until the 5th of next month.

The original application period was set from the 5th to the 22nd of this month. However, the city explained that the deadline is being extended by two weeks to allow more youth to benefit.

The relief fund is provided to support local youth who are facing difficulties in their studies and independence due to COVID-19. The eligible recipients are so-called out-of-school youth aged 8 to 19 (born between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2014) who reside in Daejeon as of the 30th of last month and are not attending regular schools.

The city will provide 100,000 KRW per person to these youth via the Ontong Daejeon card or an anonymous prepaid card (one-time use). The relief fund can be received by the youth themselves or their guardians.

If applying with the Ontong Daejeon card, the fund will be automatically charged, whereas if applying with the anonymous prepaid card, recipients must visit the local ‘Out-of-School Youth Support Center’ in their jurisdiction to collect it.

For more detailed information about the application, please refer to the announcement posted on the city’s website or contact the Out-of-School Youth Support Center.

Meanwhile, last year, the city became the first among metropolitan cities nationwide to introduce and provide the ‘Dream Growth Allowance’ for out-of-school youth.

The Dream Growth Allowance was introduced to ensure that out-of-school youth are not excluded from benefits, unlike their peers attending regular schools.

The eligible recipients are out-of-school youth aged 9 to 24 residing in Daejeon who are registered at the Out-of-School Youth Support Center and have participated in at least one program operated by the center at least twice a week. Applications are processed through the registered center.

Park Moon-yong, Director of the Youth and Family Bureau of the city, said, “The city will strive to create a healthy and safe society without blind spots by implementing customized support policies for the independent growth of out-of-school youth centered on people.”