Gyeonggi-do to Fully Support Rental Deposit for Youth Preparing for Independence... 78 Houses This Year

Gyeonggi Province will become the first in the nation to fully support the rental deposit for self-reliant youth moving into public rental housing managed by Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Corporation (GH) starting from the second half of this year.

Self-reliant youth are young people who have been under the care of child welfare facilities, group homes (shared living homes), or foster care, and begin living independently once they turn 18. Approximately 260 self-reliant youth in Gyeonggi Province start living independently each year.

Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province has decided to move away from the previous method of supporting only part of the rental deposit and will fully cover the standard rental deposit ranging from a minimum of 1 million KRW to a maximum of 72.66 million KRW for those moving into GH public rental housing. Both new and existing tenants are eligible for the same support. The project budget of 830 million KRW was secured using the Residents’ Return Fund.

The scale of the project this year is 78 households. Gyeonggi Province will accept applications through entrusted organizations starting as early as the second half of this year after administrative procedures such as private consignment review and consignment contract signing.

Gyeonggi-do Independent Youth Support Project Information Poster

Previously, in June and July of last year in Cheonan, Chungnam, self-reliant youth who had just taken their first steps into society tragically ended their lives within a month of each other. In 2022, two self-reliant youth in Gwangju Metropolitan City also made extreme choices. One of the major difficulties self-reliant youth face when entering society is housing insecurity.

Lee Gye-sam, Director of the Urban Housing Office of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "The entire society must become a strong support system so that self-reliant youth can grow into confident members of our society and become independent. We hope that through our benefits, self-reliant youth will adapt socially and economically with hope and courage."

Meanwhile, to provide rapid housing stability support for self-reliant youth, Gyeonggi Province has integrated the Hope Stepping Stone Centers (Hwaseong and Goyang), previously operated by the Gyeonggi Welfare Foundation, and individual private consignment projects such as Mentor-Mentee Together and Mental Health Counseling Support into the Gyeonggi Self-Reliance Support Dedicated Agency project starting this year, operating 24 housing units (18 self-reliant living centers and 6 self-reliance experience centers).

The Hope Stepping Stone Center is a housing space (self-reliant living center) designed to provide prompt and smooth support for housing and case management services for self-reliant youth. The number of staff at the Self-Reliance Support Dedicated Agency has also been significantly increased from 37 last year to 62 this year.