Gwangju City Councilor Park Mijeong: "Five Child Group Homes Rated C or Below"

"Effectiveness of Inspections Must Be Enhanced Through City-District Collaboration"

Park Mi-jung, Gwangju City Council member.

Five group homes where children without family protection live received a grade of C or lower in the social welfare facility evaluation, indicating the need for improvement.

On the 7th, Park Mi-jung, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council (Democratic Party, Dong-gu 2), criticized during the administrative audit of the Gwangju Women's and Family Bureau, stating, "Among the 34 child group homes in the Gwangju area, five received a grade of C or lower in the evaluation according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare guidelines," and added, "Systematic management is necessary for facilities protecting abused children and children requiring protection."

A child group home is a welfare facility that provides protection, nurturing, and self-reliance support services to children in need of protection under family-like conditions, protecting 5 to 7 children per location. In the Gwangju area, 136 staff members manage 176 children.

The social welfare facility evaluation for child group homes is conducted every three years under the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and is overseen by Gwangju City. Last year's evaluation results showed that out of 34 locations, 13 received an A grade, 16 a B grade, 3 a C grade, and 2 a D grade. In the group home supervision and inspection conducted by the five autonomous districts, there were 22 immediate improvement cases, 9 administrative guidance cases, 6 corrections, and 15 cautions in 2022.

Councilor Park stated, "It is important to prevent child abuse by proactively removing elements of human rights violations within the facilities where group home children reside," and added, "There is a need to enhance the effectiveness of improvements, guidance, and inspections of protection facilities through collaboration between Gwangju City and the autonomous districts."

She continued, "Many people are working hard to help children who have experienced abuse and family breakdown grow into members of society," emphasizing, "It is necessary to re-examine the protection support system and work with the local community to ensure there are no blind spots."