Questions/Answers

The comprehensive goal of the “Establishment of the Support System for ‘Seocho-gu Welfare Services’ through Public-Private Cooperation” is to provide integrated and customized welfare services to all households, including low-income households. We hope to continue improving the quality of the welfare services that are being provided to various welfare recipients and ensure that all low-income households receive the welfare services they need, thereby preventing people from becoming isolated within their own communities and allowing them to function as productive members of society

The initiative for the “Establishment of the Support System for ‘Seocho-gu Welfare Services’ through Public-Private Cooperation” has integrated the various welfare service support systems of private and public organizations, reorganized the integrated system into four regional sections, and established a sustainable welfare support system for the low-income class. In addition, new and developmental programs, such as Hyodo Bus, Grandchildren Caregivers, have been implemented to meet the welfare demands of citizens according to their life stage and in connection with innovative ideas, policies, implementation methods, and structures. Moreover, Seocho-gu has introduced “visiting welfare services” through the Reaching Out Community Service Center Initiative, through which social workers and nurses pay visits to households in need, and Seocho Nubidan, a group of people who actively seek out families in need throughout Seocho-gu to enhance their accessibility to quality welfare services. To promote this initiative, four public-private cooperative organizations, consisting of private social welfare groups and public offices, have been created, one for each of the four regions of Seocho-gu, and partnerships have been forged to facilitate the pooling and sharing of the experiences, technologies, and resources of different groups and offices, thereby benefitting the poorest citizens.

In the past, public welfare services were provided through the existing service support system in cooperation with private organizations. However, the proportion of such services was extremely small, and the lack of information sharing between organizations led to the overlapping of services and waste of welfare resources among different organizations. Seocho-gu attempted to reduce such waste by increasing the effectiveness of welfare resource management through the creation of a public-private cooperative support system. As a result, we were able to reduce waste and provide more benefits to welfare recipients, thus improving their quality of life. In addition, instead of simply processing welfare applications, we implemented a “visiting welfare service” through which we could identify and manage vulnerable groups and provide customized welfare services. This initiative to create a public-private cooperation system did not focus only on the implementation of welfare projects but also on the development and improvement of a system for developing communities and enhancing the quality of people’s lives based on the continued consideration for sustainability even after the implementation of projects.

This initiative has had a positive impact on low-income households and other welfare recipients. For instance, the “Hyodo Bus” program, which is now being implemented in the four regions of Seocho-gu, provides a free shuttle service for elderly people who live in areas with poor access to public transportation or are unable to use public transportation due to financial limitations. Now used by an average of 2,000 people a month, this program has been very well received. As part of our initiative, we also provide a variety of programs for children and youth, which are contributing to the formation of healthy communities. Our programs include: “Happy Study Room,” a program that provides 28 children and youth from low-income households with learning opportunities through public-private cooperation; the “School Uniform Support Project,” which provides students from low-income households with school uniforms (KRW 94 million worth of uniforms provided to 209 students so far); and the “Youth Hope Mentorship Project,” through which lawyers serve as mentors for 10 youths, helping them grow into healthy members of society.

The public-private cooperation council that has been created through the establishment of the public-private cooperation system, in connection with the implementation of the Reaching Out Community Service Center Initiative, play a central role in this initiative. The councils, which are made up of experts from a total of 27 public and private organizations, are making efforts to lay a foundation for the initiative by: discussing the creation of a manual for the welfare and healthcare services offered through the Reaching Out Community Service Center Initiative, adjusting the public-private organization delivery system to provide integrated services, developing a manual to strengthen the case management capabilities of the community service centers, and monitoring the neighborhoods where the Reaching Out Community Service Center Initiative has been implemented. Once the Reaching Out Community Service Center Initiative is fully implemented, its coverage will be expanded from at-risk, low-income families to the elderly, infants, and toddlers, thereby strengthening universal welfare. As a result, citizens in need who are eligible to receive welfare will no longer have to visit community service centers to apply for and receive welfare services; instead, they will be able to receive welfare and healthcare services from visiting social workers and experts.

Many local governments are now in the process of establishing collaborative systems between public and private organizations. In most local governments, such projects are being undertaken by legal organizations called “community social security councils.” Although these community social security councils are playing a central role in vitalizing public-private cooperation, realistically, the establishment of a public-private cooperation system will still require more time and effort. Having understood this problem, Seocho-gu, unlike other local governments, has decided that the establishment of infrastructure should be the first step toward fostering public-private cooperation. To induce real public-private cooperation, we organized and held workshops where the public and private sectors could come together and removed the barrier between public and private tasks through communication and bonding. Based on these efforts, a “public-private cooperation council,” serving as a human resources network, was created to increase the effectiveness of our efforts to establish a public-private cooperation system. The public-private cooperation council was divided into four councils, one for each region of Seocho-gu, and private and public advisory organizations were designated for each region as well, in an effort to ensure their accountability.

Other local governments are also making efforts to establish public-private cooperation systems of their own. However, few have made any significant accomplishments so far. Fully aware of the difficulties, Seocho-gu has endeavored to overcome its limitations. We changed our approach to the establishment of the system in the hopes of achieving tangible results, and we have succeeded in doing so. For instance, the Seocho-gu “Grandchildren Caregivers” program, through which grandparents who are helping care for their grandchildren are given up to KRW 240,000 each in support, as long as they have received 25 hours of training. This program relieves the burden on parents to find nannies to care for their children while also making use of idle labor to help resolve the issues that have been arising in society due to the low birthrate. This program was made possible with the public-private cooperation council’s identification of the demand for this type of welfare and implementation of a program unique to Seocho-gu. Public-private cooperation has become a new, well-known paradigm of the social welfare delivery system, but in the actual implementation process, it is the seemingly trivial ideas that are driving the positive results the initiative has been achieving

In our efforts to establish a public-private cooperation system, we are mainly using human resources rather than financial or material resources. Seocho Nubidan, which aims to discover and support at-risk families, is a program that involves the efforts of a public-private personnel cooperation network consisting of public offices in Seocho-gu, 16 welfare organizations, and eight related organizations. Under this program, more than 1,700 people are paying visits to households throughout Seocho-gu, as a result of which we have discovered more than 5,360 at-risk families in need of public support and private resources. The public-private cooperation system aims to achieve the goal of community development, and since we strive for organic cooperation between the public and private welfare delivery systems and information sharing, the use of human resources is the most important aspect of our initiative. We also provide support for external activities, such as designating the homes of seniors living alone who do not frequent senior centers or community service centers as “Meeting Places for Friends,” where other seniors living in the neighborhood can gather and spend time together regularly. In this way, we have been able to create a network of seniors who check in on each other on a regular basis, thus preventing seniors from dying alone.

No

The “Support System for ‘Seocho-gu Welfare Services’ through Public-Private Cooperation” aims to improve the welfare service delivery system through public-private cooperation and thereby eliminate welfare blind spots and provide customized, welfare recipient-centered services. Under this initiative, the creation of a public-private cooperation council, discovery of joint public-private projects, and establishment of common forms through which public and private organizations can share their welfare resources have been inducing public-private cooperation. In addition, the welfare information held by public and private organizations has been integrated to prevent overlapping and omission in the provision of services, and welfare services have been expanded to strengthen the provision of customized, recipient-centered services. The “Support System for ‘Seocho-gu Welfare Services’ through Public-Private Cooperation” is a measure that seeks to respond to the increasing volume and complexity of welfare demand by effectively utilizing private sector resources. Moreover, this system can be adopted and applied by other organizations and countries that wish to look beyond the public arena and make effective use of private welfare resources.

The Support System for the Seocho-gu Welfare Service through Public-Private Cooperation is a sustainable solution designed to accommodate the growing variety and complexity of welfare demands. Welfare services provided by a single organization without public-private support are limited, and welfare recipients today require a higher standard of service than they did in the past. It is possible to effectively allocate welfare resources through public-private cooperation and design customized welfare plans by sharing information, such as notes on consultation sessions held by various organizations and lists of welfare services that have been provided. In this way, we are able to reduce the social and financial costs of providing welfare services while maximizing the use of existing resources. The prompt allocation of limited resources on an as-needed basis also reduces unnecessary production, which in turn reduces the environmental impact.

As we continue identifying joint public-private projects through the public-private cooperation council, establishing common forms through which public and private organizations can share their welfare resources, and creating an integrated system to manage public and private welfare information, the public-private cooperation support system will become stronger through the complementary relationships that are being formed between the public and private sectors. In addition, a plan has been established to create and support regional public-private cooperation councils to serve as official control centers that mediate between the public and private sectors and provide systematic support. We have also assigned public and private welfare organizations in the four regions of Seocho-gu with tasks uniquely suited to each organization, thereby supporting them in their efforts to function as members of the public-private cooperation council.

Yes

After being designated as a “project for self-evaluation” by Seocho-gu in 2016, the initiative was officially evaluated in terms of its implementation and efficacy. Using the implementation plan that had been drawn up in advance as an evaluation index, we assessed the implementation rate on a quarterly basis. The evaluation focused on the: regional-level system for the constant identification of new families in need; provision of customized welfare services; establishment of a plan to find welfare blind spots and provide customized services; establishment of a plan to reinforce customized, urgent welfare support for at-risk families; conducting of a survey of all welfare blind spots; and provision of customized support for newly discovered families in need. In 2017, a workshop-style self-evaluation was conducted in both halves of 2017 regarding the accomplishments that had been made through public-private cooperation. At the workshops, more than 200 people working in private and public welfare organizations shared and evaluated their accomplishments.

As a result of the “2016 Seocho-gu Self-Evaluation Project,” the initiative was found to have been faithfully implemented, in terms of the creation of a group responsible for identifying areas in need of public-private cooperation, the number of newly discovered welfare blind spots, and the number of customized welfare services provided. Specifically, the results of the evaluation showed that 5,236 households that had fallen through the cracks of the welfare system were discovered, of which 3,760 were provided support and monitored continuously. In 2017, projects specific to the four regions of Seocho-gu and their accomplishments were discussed. The difficulties and issues that arose in the implementation of the projects were also discussed, and suggestions for solutions and improvements were made. In addition, the workshop attendees debated the direction that the initiative for the public-private cooperation system should take in order to be fully established and become sustainable in the future.

The 2016 Seocho-gu Self-Evaluation Project featured six areas of evaluation. They were: (1) establishment of a plan to identify welfare blind spots and provide customized services; (2) establishment of a plan to reinforce customized, urgent welfare support for at-risk families; (3) investigation of welfare blind spots specific to winter & summer; (4) creation and operation of Seocho Nubidan; (5) formation and operation of groups that manage cases on a regional basis; (6) enforcement of the provision of an action manual and capacity strengthening training for the groups responsible for identifying people in need of welfare;. The initiative was evaluated based on: whether actual support measures were established, such as the formation of a public-private cooperation group responsible for identifying and supporting at-risk families not receiving the welfare services they need and the provision of an action manual; whether there was anyone in need who had been neglected; and whether welfare recipients continued to be monitored for improvement purposes. For the evaluation, we submitted plans, reports on results, and other necessary documents as evidence. In 2017, the evaluation was conducted as a workshop, where the accomplishments and results of region-specific projects were presented and discussed with a focus on sharing regional cases.

In relation to the Support System for Seocho-gu Welfare Service through Public-Private Cooperation, a taskforce was formed, consisting of numerous private and public organizations. Four welfare-related departments and three healthcare-related departments of public organizations, 18 community service centers, and 17 social security organizations participated in the system. They all agreed on the necessity for cooperation between public and private organizations and decided to pursue the goal of resolving community issues through cooperation. The taskforce eventually evolved into an official legal organization affiliated with the Integrated Service Division of the Regional Social Security Council and continued holding discussions on the specific plan for the operation of the cooperation system. These discussions resulted in the promotion of region-specific projects, integration of the project information of each region, and information sharing and joint activities among regions. A public-private cooperation workshop was held to evaluate these region-specific programs. Instead of simply presenting and sharing the accomplishments that had been made, the workshop hosted discussions on the problems and areas in need of improvement and the direction that the initiative should take in the future.  

In order to create an ideal system where the public and private sectors work together to improve the welfare of the people of our community, we established a cooperative infrastructure and engaged in a wide range of activities. Although we managed to make some specific accomplishments that led to meaningful results, we also failed to realize some of our goals, due to the gap between our ideas and reality. Now that the establishment of a public-private cooperation system has entered the growth phase, there are a few things that we need to consider to ensure that the system grows into a healthy part of society. First, we need to strengthen the role of citizens in taking responsibility for and leading the implementation of plans. Although the system requires the cooperation of the public and private sectors, it is important to emphasize the leadership role of the public sector in order for the private sector to apply its experiences and expertise in useful ways. Second, we need to provide standards for evaluation. In particular, it is necessary to establish evaluation standards that can clearly and objectively show even the smallest differences.