Providing Customized Care Services with an Investment of 44.8 Billion Won
Support for Guardians Also Promoted, Including Emergency Care and Family Respite
Jeonnam Province is dedicating its full efforts to expanding the social participation of people with developmental disabilities and alleviating the caregiving burden on their families, by investing a total of 44.8 billion won to provide customized welfare services tailored to the needs and characteristics of each individual throughout the year.
As of last year, the number of people with developmental disabilities in Jeonnam Province was tallied at 14,135.
Jeonnam Province is implementing a variety of programs to promote the social participation of these individuals and to provide welfare services.
The main projects include: ▲ 8 billion won for customized integrated care services for people with the most severe developmental disabilities who exhibit challenging behaviors such as self-injury or aggression; ▲ 18.1 billion won for daytime and after-school activity services for people with developmental disabilities; ▲ 12.2 billion won for developmental rehabilitation services for children with severe disabilities under the age of 18; ▲ 3.7 billion won for family support for raising children with disabilities; ▲ 1 billion won for emergency care services such as when guardians of people with developmental disabilities are hospitalized; ▲ 1 billion won for lifelong education support centers for adults with developmental disabilities aged 18 and older; and ▲ 800 million won for support for parents and families of children with developmental disabilities.
The integrated care service for people with the most severe developmental disabilities provides three types of customized one-on-one care?24-hour individual, daytime individual, and daytime group?depending on the degree of disability and the level of service support needed, for those who have had difficulty accessing existing services due to challenging behaviors such as self-injury or aggression.
In particular, the 24-hour individual service, which is directly planned and implemented by Jeonnam Province, is currently provided by three institutions, and an additional institution is being recruited to expand services for people with the most severe developmental disabilities.
To support the social participation and independence of people with developmental disabilities, Jeonnam Province provides 132 hours per month of daytime activity services and 66 hours per month of after-school activity services for youth. In addition, two lifelong education support centers are operated to assist adults with developmental disabilities aged 18 and older with social adaptation training and related programs.
To promote functional improvement and behavioral development for children with disabilities under the age of 18, Jeonnam Province is expanding eligibility for developmental rehabilitation services?which include art, music, behavioral, and psychological therapies?by raising the age limit for children with unregistered disabilities from under 6 years to under 9 years.
To ease the caregiving burden on guardians, Jeonnam Province is also operating emergency care services that provide 24-hour care in urgent situations, as well as programs offering psychological counseling, family respite, and parent education for parents and guardians of people with developmental disabilities.
Lee Sangshim, Director of Health and Welfare at Jeonnam Province, stated, "We will continue to do our utmost to strengthen support for people with developmental disabilities so that their opportunities for social participation are expanded and families exhausted from caregiving can have time to rest."
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