‘Busan Social Service Institute’ Holds 1st Anniversary Ceremony and Forum

Opening Ceremony of Children's Complex Cultural Space 'Deullaknallak' at Busan Social Welfare Comprehensive Center on the 18th at 3 PM

Converted from Welfare Policy Research Institute 'Busan Welfare Development Institute' in April last year, Discov

Busan City will celebrate the 1st anniversary of the opening of the Busan Social Service Institute by holding a commemorative ceremony and social service forum at 3 p.m. on the 18th at the Busan Social Welfare Comprehensive Center (located in Dongnae-gu).

Busan Social Service Institute.

This event, co-hosted by the city and the Busan Social Service Institute, was organized to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the opening of the Busan Social Service Institute, a city-invested and funded institution.

The commemorative ceremony will be held with about 100 attendees including city officials, city council members, and local residents, featuring congratulatory speeches from guests, the launch ceremony of the Social Service Institute Supporters, and the opening ceremony of ‘Deullaknallak,’ a children’s complex cultural space.

About 100 people, including Bae Byeong-cheol, Director of the City Social Welfare Bureau, Lee Jong-jin, Chairman of the Welfare and Environment Committee of the City Council, the President of the Busan Social Welfare Council, the President of the Busan Social Workers Association, the Deputy Director of the Central Social Service, and local residents, will attend to celebrate the 1st anniversary.

The newly opened ‘Deullaknallak’ is a children’s complex cultural space created in the first-floor unused area of the Busan Social Welfare Comprehensive Center. It will open on the 18th and operate on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Following this, the social service forum will be held under the theme “Current Status and Development Directions of Busan Social Services,” where experts from various fields will gather for in-depth discussions.

First, Dr. Choi Young-hwa from the Busan Social Service Institute will present the results of the survey on the “Demand and Supply Status of Busan City Social Services,” and Professor Kim Eun-jung from Pukyong National University will propose “Policy Tasks for the Development of Busan Social Services.”

Additionally, various experts including City Council Member Moon Young-mi, Professor Bae Hwa-sook from Busan Catholic University, Senior Researcher Park Se-gyeong from the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, Senior Researcher Lim Chae-young from the Gyeongnam Social Service Institute, and Director Jeong Su-hong of Bumin Senior Welfare Center will participate as panelists to provide diverse opinions on the topics.

The ‘Busan Social Service Institute’ was established in April last year by transitioning from the ‘Busan Welfare Development Institute,’ a welfare policy research organization, to a business-focused institution as part of the public institution efficiency promotion plan. Over the past year, it has made significant efforts to discover and provide social services for vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, and the disabled.

Over the past year, the Busan Social Service Institute has implemented measures such as providing emergency care services when care gaps occur for vulnerable groups including children, the elderly, and the disabled; operating entrusted public social service providers; offering management consulting to private social service providers; improving the treatment of social service workers; and discovering new social services based on citizen demand.

A survey on social service demand was conducted targeting 9,507 individuals in 4,002 households residing in the Busan area, and the basic status and policy needs were identified for 1,039 social service providers. Based on this, the Busan Social Service regional plan will be established this year.

Moreover, the institute held the nation’s first ‘Social Service Expo,’ promoting seven major social service sectors including welfare, health and medical care, and housing. It also operated four experience buses such as medical buses to raise public awareness and the perceived value of social services among citizens.

In addition, to address blind spots in care, emergency care services have been provided year-round, and the service target has been broadly expanded to include middle-aged adults and family care youth. Notably, this year, two projects from the Busan Citizen Social Service Contest held last year will be pilot projects to further expand service targets.

The Busan Social Service Institute operates entrusted social service providers that are avoided by the private sector or where illegal activities have occurred. While there were two such institutions at the time of opening, two more related to the elderly and disabled have been added, making a total of four institutions under entrusted operation. This aims to promote the public nature and stable operation of social service providers.

Yu Gyu-won, President of the Busan Social Service Institute, stated, “Over the past year, we have made great efforts to listen to the voices of citizens and the field to support the necessary parts of social service practice, and we intend to further strengthen the functions and roles of the Social Service Institute.” He emphasized, “To advance care services, we will activate public-private cooperation networks and carry out various projects to improve social service quality and support private social service providers.”

Bae Byeong-cheol, Director of the City Social Welfare Bureau, said, “Two years ago, our city was selected as a new social service institute installation area through a Ministry of Health and Welfare contest, and after much preparation, it opened last April. It is already the 1st anniversary, which is very meaningful.” He added, “We will continue to provide wholehearted support so that the Social Service Institute can establish itself as a control tower for social services, improving service quality through the advancement of social services.”