Gwangjin-gu, Training Specialized Childcare Caregivers

Gwangjin-gu and Konkuk University Future Knowledge Education Center Sign Consignment Agreement for Professional Caregiver Training for Hospitalized Children... Join Hands with 'Gwangjin 50+ Counseling Center' and 'Areumdawoon Gage' for Donation Campaign... Gwangjin-gu and Korea Association of Realtors Gwangjin Branch Form Administrative Partnership Agreement

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) signed a consignment agreement on the 20th at the mayor’s office with Konkuk University Future Knowledge Education Center (Director Jang Seong-ho) for ‘Specialized Childcaregiver Training’ to care for hospitalized children.

This agreement was made to train specialized caregivers dispatched to provide care services for hospitalized children, and Gwangjin-gu entrusted the necessary training to Konkuk University Future Knowledge Education Center. Gwangjin-gu expects that specialized caregivers will play a significant role in reducing the childcare burden on families of hospitalized children and creating a child-friendly social environment.

This year, Gwangjin-gu is conducting the ‘Hospitalized Child Care Support’ project, the first of its kind among Seoul’s autonomous districts. It targets hospitalized children aged 12 and under within the district, where dispatched specialized caregivers provide short-term care and emotional support, including meals and play assistance. Households with an income within 150% of the median income are fully supported for the service, and applications can be made by phone or visit to the Care SOS Center at the local community service center.

The specialized caregiver training will be conducted for 30 care workers affiliated with the Care SOS Center’s partner institutions over 8 hours on the 25th and 26th. During this time, care workers will learn in detail about the basics and specialized childcare training, including ▲the necessity of child caregiving ▲prevention of child abuse ▲understanding child development ▲professional care and play support according to developmental stages.

Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “The core of the ‘Hospitalized Child Care Service,’ the first to be implemented by a Seoul autonomous district, is the specialized caregiver.” He added, “We hope that the specialized caregivers trained through this education will greatly help to resolve blind spots in home care.”

Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) held the ‘Beautiful Store One-Day Shop’ event on the 21st, where participants of the Gwangjin 50 Plus Counseling Center donated proceeds from the sale of crafts they made to the local community.

This event was a donation campaign jointly conducted by the ‘Gwangjin 50 Plus Counseling Center’ and the ‘Beautiful Store Gwangjin Hwayang Branch.’

The donations were made by selling items that students of the counseling center’s life craft program had made and donated over the past two years at the Beautiful Store, with all proceeds supporting the local community.

Notably, professional counselors and program participants from the Gwangjin 50 Plus Counseling Center actively participated as one-day sales staff, drawing attention for their enthusiastic donation activities.

The sales proceeds will be used as funds to support elderly living alone and social welfare facilities in Gwangjin-gu, helping neighbors in need within the community.

Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “The Beautiful Store One-Day Shop event is meaningful as it promotes sharing through talent donation by the 50 Plus generation and fosters coexistence among local residents.” He added, “We will continue to promote various programs to support the vibrant second act of life for the 50 Plus generation.”

In this regard, the district established the 50 Plus Counseling Center on the 2nd floor of the Civil Welfare Building at Gwangjin-gu Office for residents aged 50 to 64. Last year, it supported various life redesign programs such as ▲life redesign counseling ▲life craft programs ▲‘Catch the 5060 Tomorrow JOB!’ ▲home repair academy ▲professional organizer training ▲online employment education for middle-aged and older adults.

The center operates from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and is free for all Gwangjin-gu residents. Detailed information can be obtained at the Gwangjin 50 Plus Counseling Center.

Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) is operating the ‘Platform for Giving Blessings and Building Virtue’ by utilizing local real estate agencies as administrative welfare information centers.

The ‘Platform for Giving Blessings and Building Virtue’ aims to discover neighbors in need who are in welfare blind spots by utilizing real estate agents who have frequent face-to-face contact with residents, linking them to support projects tailored to individual crisis situations and welfare needs, thereby realizing customized administration.

To this end, Gwangjin-gu and the Korea Association of Realtors Gwangjin Branch signed an administrative partner agreement in December last year.

Through the agreement, the two organizations promised to cooperate on ▲support projects for single-person households ▲reduction of brokerage fees ▲operation of surveying reference point guardians ▲COVID-19 response and promotion of major administrative tasks.

Accordingly, licensed real estate agents provide tailored support project information when concluding lease contracts for single-person households. The district currently operates about 47 projects in five major areas including safety, social networks, and health care for single-person households.

Also, when discovering new vulnerable groups, agents notify the district office with the individual’s consent to connect them to appropriate public and private services.

This helps to resolve welfare blind spots for vulnerable groups who previously could not receive support due to lack of awareness, enhancing the effectiveness of the projects.

Additionally, brokerage fees are waived or halved for vulnerable groups, local university students, or single-person households when signing lease contracts for housing under 100 million KRW.

Furthermore, real estate agencies will promote major district projects to local residents or visiting clients and notify the district office if there is a risk of loss of surveying reference points due to nearby construction.

Gwangjin-gu guides licensed real estate agents on support projects for single-person households and vulnerable groups and recruits good real estate agencies to participate in the projects. It also provides maps of surveying reference point installations and management ledgers by region.

Yoon Hyun-ro, head of the Korea Association of Realtors Gwangjin Branch, said, “I feel rewarded to participate in improving housing welfare and discovering welfare blind spots in the community, and I will actively support to achieve good results.”

Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “I express my gratitude to Yoon Hyun-ro, head of the Korea Association of Realtors Gwangjin Branch, and all licensed real estate agents who have spared no cooperation in promoting this project.” He added, “We will continue to make every effort to discover marginalized crisis households in welfare blind spots and provide stable support measures tailored to each household’s situation.”