Relaxation of Therapist Placement Standards in Integrated Childcare Centers for Children with Disabilities: Main Center 5 → Including Branch Centers 5 or More
AI Humanoid Robots Rented for 4 Months at 10 Locations
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is significantly easing the support criteria for therapists in integrated daycare centers for children with disabilities to ensure that children with disabilities receive stable therapeutic services.
On the 6th, Seoul announced that starting in September, it has revised guidelines to relax the therapist placement criteria to include five children with disabilities at nearby daycare centers, not just the main center, to prevent interruptions in therapy for children who need treatment. Currently, Seoul supports 424 integrated and specialized daycare centers for children with disabilities by providing personnel expenses for therapists, childcare assistants, and drivers, as well as installation costs and teaching materials, to offer integrated care that meets the characteristics and needs of young children with disabilities and to help them grow in a stable environment.
Seoul also provides city-funded personnel expenses even for centers operating with only one child with disabilities that do not meet the national funding requirement of having two or more children with disabilities. Furthermore, it has expanded the national funding for therapist personnel expenses, previously available only to specialized daycare centers for children with disabilities, to include integrated daycare centers for children with disabilities, actively reflecting field voices to create a stable childcare environment.
Through the city-district comprehensive childcare support centers, support has been provided to children with disabilities and their families through special teacher daycare center site visits (1,395 times), director and teacher training (315 times), parent and family counseling and education (1,048 times), parent and family participation programs (70 times), and early childhood development support (screening tests for 3,727 children, cooperative projects for 1,769 children) until August. Therapists dispatched to daycare centers provided various therapies such as physical therapy, speech therapy, art therapy, play therapy, and music therapy according to the type of disability.
Additionally, Seoul has selected 10 integrated daycare centers for children with disabilities to explore ways to promote emotional development of young children with disabilities and enhance interaction with non-disabled young children by utilizing humanoid robots powered by artificial intelligence (AI). These robots are being lent from September to December for four months.
Kim Seon-soon, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Women and Family Policy Office, stated, “Seoul is establishing a foundation to stably provide necessary therapeutic programs to children with disabilities, who are vulnerable in childcare,” and added, “We will continue to listen to the difficulties faced in the field and reflect the voices from childcare sites in policies to ensure that vulnerable groups are not left behind.”
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