Seongbuk-gu Anam-dong, Establishing Support System for Isolated and Reclusive Youth

Opening of Online Counseling Window for Smartphone Generation Youth
Establishing a Visiting Public-Private Cooperative System Led by Dong Community Security Council
One-Stop Support Linkage for Actual Isolated and Reclusive Youth in Livelihood, Medical Care, and Housing

In Anam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul (Mayor Lee Seung-ro), support projects for isolated and reclusive youth have been actively carried out since this year.

Anam-dong has 54% of its households consisting of single-person youth households. Home to Korea University and near Sungshin Women’s University, this area is a representative single-person youth household region that far exceeds the Seoul city average of about 5% for single-person youth households.

To help youth facing difficulties, eight organizations have joined forces centered around the Anam-dong Community Security Council under the slogan “All Together to Embrace Anam.” They are effectively establishing a system to discover and support youth who are isolated from society or self-reclusive due to psychological issues, employment failure, interpersonal relationships, and other hardships.

In fact, last May, isolated youth in psychological, emotional, and economic crises were identified and supported to become independent through a public-private cooperation system addressing issues such as overdue housing payments, emotional difficulties, family relationships, and interpersonal problems. This case is a representative example where residents discovered the case, and rapid support was provided by injecting private resources into welfare blind spots alongside official emergency support, opening a path for the youth to become independent members of society.

Additionally, the Lifeline Comprehensive Social Welfare Center and Seongbuk Disabled Welfare Center jointly operate a “community-based social welfare center” once a month throughout Anam-dong. Through visiting welfare services, they promote support systems for isolated and reclusive youth to neighbors and conduct youth counseling. Reflecting the characteristics of the smartphone generation youth, online counseling using QR codes and open chat rooms is also conducted, with about 30 consultations carried out so far. Youth who request counseling are connected to related projects based on the Seoul Youth Mongttang Information Portal according to various needs such as psychological, employment, economic, and interpersonal issues.

Lee Seung-ro, Mayor of Seongbuk-gu, said, “We will take the Anam-dong regional safety net system, which is working hard for youth health, as a model and reflect various opinions in district administration,” adding, “We will continue to spare no support for a healthy Seongbuk-gu for youth.”