KB News Desk
Expanded support aims to ease families’ fears over who will provide care when parents are gone
The South Korean government will double access to daytime services for adults with developmental disabilities by 2030 and expand round-the-clock care for those with the highest support needs, seeking to ease a burden long shouldered by their families.
The measures are part of a comprehensive plan unveiled Thursday to establish a continuum of support from infancy through adulthood, minimizing gaps in care as the number of people with developmental disabilities continues to rise.
That population has grown by an average of 3.1 percent a year over the past five years. The Ministry of Health and Welfare projects it will reach 335,000 by 2030, up from 288,000 last year.
“Government-wide spending on related programs for next year has increased by 15.9 percent to 2.8 trillion won ($2.1 billion),” Welfare Minister Jeong Eun-kyeong said.
“As the number of people with developmental disabilities is expected to continue increasing through 2030, we expect that substantially greater service capacity will be needed. We will continue working to secure the necessary budget.”
A key focus of the plan is strengthening support for adults with developmental disabilities, whose care after leaving school has largely fallen on their families. Adults currently account for 69.5 percent of all people with developmental disabilities in Korea.
Families often struggle to balance caregiving with making a living, while worrying about who will provide care after they die. Surveys have linked these pressures to high levels of stress, depression and suicidal thoughts among family caregivers.
Those concerns recently drew heightened public attention following the death of Jeon Gyeong-cheol, the father of a 27-year-old man with a developmental disability who appeared on the popular television program “You Quiz on the Block.”
Jeon drew widespread sympathy after speaking on the program about what would happen to his son after his death. He had been told that liver cancer had left him with only a limited time to live.
Jeon died Saturday, 24 days after his appearance on the program.
The government plans to gradually double the number of adults eligible for daytime activity services from the current 15,000 to 30,000 by 2030. For people with the highest support needs, including those whose behavior may put themselves or others at risk, the government plans to expand intensive care services.
The number of people receiving integrated care will rise from 2,340 to 2,760 next year, while the number of emergency care facilities will increase from two to five. Around-the-clock, one-on-one care will also be made available on weekends.
For people with lower support needs, the government plans to strengthen assistance aimed at helping them find employment and live independently in their communities.
The number of workers with disabilities eligible for vocational training support will increase from 400 this year to 720 next year, while the number of workplace support personnel for people with severe disabilities will rise from 11,700 to 12,200.
From March next year, the government will make its pilot program for community-based independent living permanent, providing housing, employment and activity support tailored to individual needs. It aims to expand the program to local governments at the municipal, county and district levels nationwide by 2030.
The government also pledged to expand support for children with disabilities by increasing the number of hours of caregiving assistance available to families and expanding the number of child care centers serving children with disabilities.
The number of children eligible for developmental rehabilitation services will increase from 110,000 this year to 116,000 next year, while the number eligible for after-school activity services will rise from 11,500 to 13,000 over the same period.
