Jeonnam Province Launches Support for Vulnerable Groups in Welfare Blind Spots During Winter

Discovering Residents with 'Power/Water Cutoffs and Arrears' by January 17 Next Year
Call Center 120 and Notification App Reception... 'AI Consultation' for Prompt Action

Jeonnam Province Crisis Household Support Call Center Promotional Material. Provided by Jeonnam Province

Jeonnam Province announced on the 27th that, together with 22 cities and counties, it plans to support vulnerable groups in the winter welfare blind spots until January 17th next year.

The plan is to prioritize identifying vulnerable groups who are at risk due to electricity, gas, or water supply cuts or bill arrears, and help stabilize their lives.

The province receives a list of 10,000 welfare blind spot cases through big data analysis of crisis signs such as power and water outages and arrears information obtained from the Korea Social Security Information Service, notifies the relevant cities, counties, and towns, and conducts consultations via phone and home visits. If a household is confirmed to be in crisis, tailored welfare services are provided through public benefits such as emergency welfare and basic living security, as well as connections to private organizations.

This year, Jeonnam Province identified 69,642 people, confirmed their risk situations through welfare consultations, and provided customized services.

In particular, from this identification process, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based initial consultation system will be introduced in all cities and counties. This system is designed to send text messages to the target individuals in advance, then have AI directly call them to conduct consultations. Through this, the crisis situations of the targets can be quickly identified and necessary measures can be taken immediately.

Residents can also directly report through the Jeonnam Province Crisis Household Support Call Center (number 120) or the Welfare Crisis Alert app.

Lee Ho-beom, Director of the Social Welfare Division, said, “The cold winter is a harsher time for low-income households in crisis,” adding, “We will proactively identify and actively support vulnerable groups in welfare blind spots to help them have a warm winter.”