Gwangjin-gu, Why Provide 100,000 Won Each for Lunch to People with Developmental Disabilities?

100,000 KRW per person per month... Support provided through 11 daytime use facilities

Secured 120 million KRW from the first supplementary budget to ease meal expenses and create conditions for independence

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Kyung-ho) is providing 100,000 KRW per month in meal expenses to people with developmental disabilities using daytime use facilities in the district.

The district has newly launched this project by investing 120 million KRW secured from the first supplementary budget to help people with developmental disabilities live independently.

The support targets about 120 people with developmental disabilities residing in Gwangjin-gu who are using daytime use facilities in the area. Each facility distributes 100,000 KRW per person per month for meal expenses quarterly using the allocated support funds.

There are a total of 11 facilities in the district, including daytime care centers for the disabled, vocational rehabilitation facilities, and daytime activity service voucher providers. People with developmental disabilities mainly come and go here during the day to gain various social participation opportunities such as leisure, rest, vocational training, and socializing.

By supporting meal expenses, they can use the facilities without burden, allowing people with developmental disabilities to spend meaningful time necessary for independence. It also helps reduce the caregiving burden on families.

Kim Kyung-ho, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “This project was launched so that people with developmental disabilities can spend their daytime meaningfully without worrying about meal expenses. We will continue to do our best to prepare welfare policies that provide practical help.”

Kim Tae-woo, Mayor of Gangseo-gu, Promotes ‘Walking Together with the Job-Disadvantaged’ to Support Employment of People with Developmental Disabilities

Employment capacity-building programs and field-centered customized vocational training for people with developmental disabilities

Dispatch of ‘Job Supporters’ to help people with disabilities adapt to workplace tasks

Seoul’s Gangseo-gu (Mayor Kim Tae-woo) is promoting a field-centered customized vocational training project for people with developmental disabilities called ‘Walking Together with the Job-Disadvantaged,’ embarking on a happy journey with socially vulnerable groups dreaming of employment.

Since taking office last year, Mayor Kim Tae-woo has set ‘Walking Together with the Socially Vulnerable’ as one of the five major district administration goals, emphasizing the need to create an environment where socially vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities, can become independent rather than receiving one-sided support.

The ‘Walking Together with the Job-Disadvantaged’ project is a vocational training program that helps unemployed adult people with developmental disabilities adapt to workplace tasks by conducting vocational rehabilitation training not in traditional social welfare institutions or vocational rehabilitation facilities but at private businesses within the district.

The district recruits vocational trainees year-round targeting graduating high school students with developmental disabilities and adults with developmental disabilities seeking employment, establishes customized support plans for each trainee, and assigns them to jobs suited to their disability characteristics and aptitudes.

To this end, the district also directly discovers private businesses suitable for people with developmental disabilities.

Target businesses include those providing appropriate job environments for people with developmental disabilities and those positive about employing people with developmental disabilities and improving job environments.

Job supporters are dispatched on-site to assist trainees.

Job supporters design job guidance and vocational training to help people with disabilities adapt well to the workplace and assist in building relationships with non-disabled colleagues.

Mayor Kim Tae-woo said, “The goal of this project is to create an environment where people with disabilities can unfold their potential without discrimination and become independent on their own. We will carefully consider the inconveniences faced by socially vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities and build a Gangseo-gu that happily walks together with the socially vulnerable.”