Seodaemun-gu, Nationwide First Comprehensive Plan for Supporting Young Carers Established

[Seoul District News] ▲Care Burden Relief ▲Economic Support ▲Psychological, Employment, and Learning Support Comprising 'Care SOS Service' Support 'Mind Care Kit' Production and Distribution & Education Expenses, Nursing Fees, Mental Health Counseling, Village Lawyer, Community, and Mentoring Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Lee Seong-heon) announced on the 4th that it has recently implemented the nation's first comprehensive plan to discover and support family caregiving adolescents and young adults, known as 'Young Carer.'

Under the vision of "Seodaemun-gu Realizing a Safe Care Society," this plan consists of 16 detailed projects across four areas: ▲alleviating caregiving burdens ▲economic support ▲psychological, employment, and learning support ▲awareness and institutional change.

Among these, looking at the 'Seodaemun-gu specialized projects,' the 'Care SOS Service' support target has been expanded to Young Carer households, providing five types of care (temporary home care, short-term facilities, accompaniment support, residential convenience, meal support) and five types of mid- to long-term care (welfare checks, health support, caregiving, case management, emergency support) services.

The annual usage limit for this service is 3.2 million KRW, double that of general recipients, and the frequency of temporary home care, short-term facilities, accompaniment support, and meal support has also been expanded more than twice.

Additionally, the district produced a so-called 'Mind Care Kit' as a support item for Young Carers. To build trust in administration, welfare officials provide this kit, which includes items worth about 100,000 KRW, during the initial visit consultation.

Customized financial support is provided to Young Carers who face difficulties in employment, work, and studies due to family caregiving. The amounts are up to 500,000 KRW per session for educational expenses (textbooks and academy fees, etc.) for a maximum of two sessions, and up to 1 million KRW for nursing care expenses.

Furthermore, the district connects Young Carers to psychological testing, mental health counseling, and treatment when necessary, and supports related medical expenses.

Besides these, the comprehensive plan includes projects such as linking village lawyers and legal home doctors, integrated case management, home visit services for housekeeping and nursing care, customized elderly care services, Dream Start and learning mentoring, career and cultural mentoring, and youth community support.

Seodaemun-gu, which has been proactively promoting support for family caregiving youth and adolescents, is collaborating with the Ministry of Health and Welfare through an agreement to conduct a Young Carer survey and pilot projects.

In fact, after conducting a survey on a total of 4,689 people (▲1,071 households with crisis information in welfare blind spots ▲1,009 single-parent families ▲1,875 hearing-impaired households ▲734 people receiving disability activity support), the district has identified and supported 44 Young Carers.

It is also promoting the enactment of the 'Seodaemun-gu Family Caregiving Adolescents and Young Adults Support Ordinance' to establish a legal basis.

Lee Seong-heon, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, said, "We will actively implement various policies for Young Carers so that young people do not have to give up their future to care for their families."