Seongdong-gu Appoints Delivery Workers as Honorary Social Welfare Officers to Address Welfare Blind Spots

April 17 Welfare Blind Spot Discovery and Support Agreement Signed with Seoul Gwangjin Post Office for 'Welfare Registered Mail Project'... 82 Delivery Workers Appointed as Honorary Social Welfare Officers to Identify Crisis Signs and Provide Customized Welfare Services through Welfare Registered Mail Delivery

Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jeong Wono) announced on the 17th that it signed a 'Welfare Registered Mail Business Agreement' with Seoul Gwangjin Post Office to establish a meticulous welfare safety net by discovering welfare blind spots and preventing crisis situations.

The 'Welfare Registered Mail Business' operates by having postal workers directly deliver registered mail containing welfare project information to households suspected to be in welfare blind spots that require crisis situation verification. This allows them to assess living conditions and housing environments and provide related information to Seongdong-gu.

Based on the related information, if a household is judged to require urgent welfare support, Seongdong-gu will provide various welfare services linked with public and private resources to help them quickly overcome the crisis situation.

To this end, Seongdong-gu signed a business agreement with Seoul Gwangjin Post Office and appointed 82 postal workers as honorary social welfare officers. Despite their busy duties, the appointed postal workers will actively continue activities to resolve welfare blind spots by delivering welfare registered mail and assessing the living conditions of the households.

Seongdong-gu will send 'welfare registered' mail once a month, focusing on households suspected of crisis situations that are unreachable or whose whereabouts are unknown. Postal workers will fill out a checklist to assess the surrounding environment and signs of crisis when delivering the mail.

The checklist items include practical content to assess the living conditions of the subjects, such as 'Appears to need help,' 'Mail, dunning letters, or seizure notices are piled up in front of the house,' 'Many empty alcohol bottles are piled up,' and 'There is an unpleasant smell around the house.'

The completed checklist, along with the delivery results, is sent via email to the Welfare Policy Division of Seongdong-gu Office and welfare officers at the local community centers. Welfare officers plan to provide customized welfare services according to needs, such as emergency welfare, public service applications, and private services, through counseling and home visits based on the inspection contents.

Additionally, the details of welfare services linked and provided to the subjects will be shared quarterly with Seoul Gwangjin Post Office, enhancing work efficiency through active communication between institutions.

Since registered mail is principally delivered face-to-face, postal workers can directly or indirectly observe signs of crisis during the delivery process to the target households, which is expected to greatly help in resolving potential welfare blind spots.

Jeong Wono, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, stated, “The active participation of postal workers who know the community better than anyone else will greatly help discover residents in welfare blind spots,” and added, “We will continue to strive to build a solid welfare safety net to create a happy Seongdong-gu where no one is left behind.”