Seoul City Conducts Joint Training for 400 Participants from Districts, Police, and Protection Agencies on 'Rapid Response to Child Abuse'

From the 19th, 25 joint training sessions involving child abuse response personnel, local districts, police, and child protection agencies will be conducted

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family announced on the 18th that, together with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, they will conduct the "Visiting Joint Training for Child Abuse Response Personnel" for 8 weeks starting from April 19 to strengthen cooperation and enhance expertise among child abuse response personnel.

Since the 2020 Yangcheon child abuse death case, the need for close collaboration among child abuse response agencies has increased. Accordingly, the Seoul Metropolitan Government piloted joint training with the police agency in five autonomous districts last October and will expand it to all autonomous districts this year. The joint training, initiated from the recognition that the approach of each agency individually responding to incidents has limitations, will be expanded to all districts to provide a platform for discussing differences in opinions among agencies on the ground and reaching consensus from the victim's perspective.

This year’s training is expected to be attended by a total of about 400 response personnel handling child abuse cases on the ground, including 25 autonomous districts, 31 police stations, and 9 Child Protection Agencies. The training will be conducted 25 times in total in the form of visiting education by professional consultants matched with each autonomous district, its jurisdictional police station, and Child Protection Agency.

The joint training will provide cooperation enhancement consulting based on actual cases to increase mutual understanding among agencies and promote practical collaboration.

From reporting to post-action, collaboration methods among response personnel at each stage will be discussed, and differences in opinions among agencies will be addressed with improvement plans prioritizing the best interests of the abused child. Additionally, by analyzing child abuse cases occurring in the region, opportunities will be provided to understand and adjust approaches among response personnel, and excellent cooperation cases will also be shared.

Besides the joint training, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will strengthen customized job training for each child abuse response personnel. Targeting a total of 650 people including heads of child protection teams in autonomous districts, child abuse dedicated officials, Dong e-Child Happiness Support System managers, and Child Protection Agency administrators, basic and advanced training courses will be operated 22 times annually.

Furthermore, to prevent child abuse and promote children's rights within child welfare facilities, the Seoul Metropolitan Government continuously operates child rights understanding education (face-to-face and e-learning) and consulting for child rights experts designated and managed by each facility.

Kim Seon-soon, Director of the Women and Family Policy Office, said, “To effectively respond to child abuse, the cooperation system among the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and related organizations must operate seamlessly. I hope this joint training will be an opportunity to enhance trust and cooperation among response personnel on the ground.” She added, “We will do our best to create a Seoul where no children suffer from abuse by continuously strengthening education and support so that child abuse response personnel can develop their expertise.”