Gwanak-gu Supports Safe and Happy Lives for Children

Strengthening Child Abuse Prevention and Early Detection of At-Risk Children
Regularization of Information Linkage Council, Comprehensive Safety Survey of Child Locations, Introduction of AI Child Psychological Assessment Service
Visited US Child Abuse Agencies Recognized as Role Models in Child Abuse Prevention Last April

Gwanak-gu (District Mayor Park Jun-hee) is promoting the community cooperation system 「Child Abuse ZERO Gwanak, Safe Children」 for proactive response to child abuse, making every effort to ensure that children grow up safely and happily.

The district's budget for child abuse prevention is approximately 90 million KRW this year, a 19.3% increase compared to the previous year. The district is implementing various projects including ▲a full safety survey of children aged 3 to 5 ▲introduction of AI Child Psychological Assessment Service to prevent child abuse in homes and childcare facilities ▲child abuse prevention campaigns.

First, since last year, the district has reinforced its dedicated child abuse officers to four and maintains a 24-hour on-call system for child abuse field investigations.

When reports come in during nights or holidays, officers immediately accompany the police to conduct child abuse investigations. Afterwards, through meetings, decisions are made regarding temporary protection measures for the child, and connections are made to specialized child protection agencies. As of December last year, the district conducted a total of 412 child abuse investigations, linking 168 cases to child abuse case management.

Since 2021, the district has appointed one child psychological and emotional expert, one university professor, one clinical psychologist, and one lawyer as integrated case meeting members, holding integrated case meetings regularly to respond to complex and diverse reports with greater caution in child abuse judgment and prevention projects.

Additionally, the district has independently raised the target age for the nationally implemented ‘Full Safety Survey of Children Aged 3’ to children up to 5 years old. This survey proactively identifies children at high risk of abuse, such as those with long-term absences, missed infant health checkups, or households not applying for child allowances, and links and provides welfare services.

In particular, the district has introduced the ‘AI Child Psychological Assessment Service’ for children aged 3 to 5. This service analyzes children’s drawings and parents’ parenting stress test results to understand the emotional and behavioral characteristics between parents and children. With the introduction of this service, the district plans to establish a proactive and innovative child abuse prevention system.

The ‘Child Abuse Prevention Week’ is also a key initiative. Every year, from November 19, designated as Child Abuse Prevention Day, the district collaborates with Gwanak Police Station, Good Neighbors, and Seoul Southern Child Protection Agency to conduct child abuse prevention campaigns for one week.

This year, the district plans to come closer to local residents and provide various promotional events that residents can directly participate in, conveying the awareness that ‘Children deserve to be respected’ to the citizens.

Furthermore, preparations are underway to establish and operate the (tentative name) Seoul Gwanak-gu Child Protection Agency by 2025. Through expanding child welfare infrastructure, the district aims to lead practical policies that ensure children are respected and happily raised in both family and society.

In April, the district’s dedicated child abuse officers visited child abuse-related institutions in the United States (Manhattan Child Protection Center, New York Child Abuse Prevention Association, New York Police Department). The U.S. is a global role model for child abuse prevention based on coordinated child policies between central and local governments. During the visit, the district had valuable opportunities to share information on child abuse response systems and work status.

District Mayor Park Jun-hee stated, “We will build the best child abuse response system in Korea,” and added, “We will do our best until the day all children in Gwanak-gu are respected and grow up happily.”