20th Disability Day
City promotes various policies for life stability, mobility convenience, tailored services, and self-reliance support for persons with disabilities
Establishing 2023-2027 2nd Five-Year Plan for Independent Living Support... Designing advanced support
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Ahead of the 42nd Disability Day on the 20th, Seoul City announced on the 19th that it is implementing various policies to create a Seoul where approximately 390,000 registered disabled residents can enjoy a happy life without discrimination. This year, the budget for welfare projects for the disabled is 1.2001 trillion KRW.
Seoul City is first working to reduce the economic burden on households with disabled members by supporting electric assistive device repair costs, reducing water bills for severely disabled households, expanding the age range for absorbent product support for people with brain lesions, and promoting free bus fares for disabled passengers. Additionally, from May this year, water and sewage fee reductions will be applied to households registered with the city as severely disabled (previously grades 1 to 3). Through this, about 100,000 households will receive a monthly discount of 8,800 KRW (2022) to 9,800 KRW (from 2023) per household.
Customized support by disability type will also be further strengthened. Seoul City is expanding specialized facilities and services for those who require separate infrastructure or services due to the nature of their disabilities. Since 2016, starting with Nowon-gu, Seoul has been operating lifelong education centers for people with developmental disabilities in 24 autonomous districts except Jung-gu. Once the center in Jung-gu opens in December this year, lifelong education centers for people with developmental disabilities will be available in all 25 autonomous districts of Seoul.
For people with brain lesions, due to muscle stiffness and other reasons, procedures such as sputum suction and gastrostomy feeding are necessary, and especially for those with severe brain lesions, diapers need to be changed frequently, making beds for exchanging absorbent products in facility restrooms essential. Seoul City is taking special management measures accordingly. Last year, Seoul City installed the nation’s first ‘Brain Lesion Disability Vision Center (performing education and care functions)’ for adult brain lesion disabled persons in Mapo-gu. This year, two additional centers (in Guro and Nowon) will be designated, bringing the total to three Vision Centers to be installed and operated within the year.
Furthermore, Seoul City will strengthen comprehensive welfare services in the community by aggressively expanding four disability welfare centers by 2023, including the construction of an annex to the Gangbuk Disability Welfare Center this year. Also, tailored ramps will be installed in about 1,300 small-scale, community-based facilities this year to improve accessibility for wheelchairs and enhance convenience.
Support in the care sector is steadily increasing as well. Seoul’s disability activity support service, which began as a pilot project in 2006 ahead of the government, will expand support to more than 1,168 additional beneficiaries this year compared to last year, focusing on single-person disabled households, elderly disabled persons aged 65 and over, and those discharged from residential facilities.
Seoul is also strengthening the discovery and support of stable jobs that form the foundation for disabled persons’ independence. Having provided 3,400 public jobs last year, Seoul City will strive to offer 4,000 public jobs this year, along with high-quality jobs reflecting diverse needs according to disability characteristics. In particular, as a new project this year, Seoul will promote a ‘Disability AI (Artificial Intelligence) Data Labeler’ training program in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution era. This program trains people to assign AI-understandable labels to various data such as photos, text, and videos.
Meanwhile, Seoul City is designing more advanced disability independence support policies through preparations such as the 2nd Five-Year Plan for Independent Living Support (2023?2027) and a comprehensive plan for disability employment. Jung Soo-yong, Director of Seoul City Welfare Policy Office, said, “Seoul will do its best to ensure that disabled persons can enjoy a happy life without discrimination by providing economic support and guaranteeing social participation, aiming to realize a Seoul where the disabled live happily without discrimination.”
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