Eradicating Child Abuse in Child Welfare Facilities... Seoul City Implements Immediate Separation and Work Exclusion of Suspected Individuals Upon Occurrence

Seoul City Announces 'Child Abuse Eradication Measures in Child Welfare Facilities' Comprising 9 Tasks in 3 Areas
Immediate Work Exclusion upon Child Abuse Report, Dismissal upon First Trial Verdict without Supreme Court Final Ruling
Three-Stage Professional Psychological Counseling and Treatment for Children Needing Intensive Protection such as Borderline Intellectual Disability

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will immediately separate the abused child and the suspected abuser as soon as child abuse occurs in childcare facilities and exclude them from work immediately. The protection of children will be prioritized in all situations, including linking the abused children with specialized institutions for psychological counseling and treatment services.

On the 28th, Seoul announced a child abuse eradication plan within child welfare facilities consisting of 9 tasks in 3 areas. The three areas are establishing a specialized psychological care system for children requiring intensive protection, strengthening the responsibility of facilities, corporations, and workers, and enhancing continuous inspection and reporting systems. Seoul’s child welfare facilities include 109 locations such as childcare facilities and temporary protection facilities, with 1,778 workers protecting and raising 2,401 children.

Seoul will first establish a three-step counseling process (frequent consultations with clinical psychologists, treatment by special therapy experts, psychological treatment at base medical institutions) for children requiring intensive protection, including abused children, children with borderline intellectual disabilities, ADHD, and delayed physical development, to build a professional care system. A new pilot program called the “Mind Healing Group Home” (3 locations) will be created by additionally assigning special therapy experts to group homes (shared living homes) to professionally care for abused children.

The responsibility of facility workers, operating facilities, and corporations that raise and protect children will be strengthened. Child abusers will be immediately expelled based on first-instance court rulings without waiting for the Supreme Court’s final judgment by revising the welfare facility’s own operating regulations. Penalties will be imposed when selecting private consignment companies for facilities where child abuse has occurred in the past three years. If child abuse occurs one or more times under the same corporation, the corporation will not receive personnel and operating expenses support for newly established child welfare facilities, and child abuse prevention education for workers will be strengthened.

To prevent child abuse in advance and detect it early, continuous inspection and reporting systems will be strengthened. To ensure children do not hesitate to report abuse due to lack of knowledge on how to report or fear of disadvantages, online reporting and counseling systems outside the facilities will be activated. CCTV will be expanded within child living facilities, and human rights protectors composed of outsiders will be increased from 35 people in 9 autonomous districts to 109 people across all 25 autonomous districts, with at least one protector active in each facility.

Kim Seon-soon, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Women and Family Policy Office, said, “Seoul plans to prioritize ‘child protection’ whenever child abuse occurs in childcare facilities. Through the child abuse eradication plan for facilities, we will fundamentally improve awareness of abuse and preventive environments to safely protect children and help them grow into healthy members of society.”