Community service centers will reinvent themselves from a civil petition and administrative function-centered organization to a welfare base that promotes residents’ participation in creating a resident convenient welfare ecosystem.
In addition, ‘the Reaching-out Community Service Center Program’ has been executed with private-public governance throughout the process from preparation to drawing up the policy.
In order to realize the core function of the visiting welfare service, all employees of community service centers take charge of each section of the community under the name of ‘In-charge Officer of Our Community’. As well, each community service center will be allocated with 5 social welfare public officials and 1 or 2 visiting nurses in order to pay a direct visit to the senior citizens aged from 65 to 70, families with new-born and poor families in crisis to address problems.
Visiting Senior Citizens Aged from 65 to 70
Visiting Families with New-Born
Visiting Poor Families in Crisis
In-Charge Official of Our Community
Welfare Counseling Experts
Create a residents-initiative community ecosystem in which residents who know best about the community solve their own problems. Establish a support foundation for the program through reinforced residents’ capacity, creation of close network and increased uniformity and consistency with the community
Each district will designate one private expert, who knows best about the properties of the community and the residents, as a community project expert, who will actively collect opinions of the residents and reflect these collected ideas on the administration of the community plans set up by the residents. The community project expert creates a local network and bridge between various organizations and residents who play a central role in community plans. With this, the community project as it reflects the local community’s nature and in which residents can play a pivotal role, will lay a foundation to create an engaging community ecosystem.
Create a Resident Initiative Community
The Reaching-out Community Service Center Program changed community centers from a general administrative space that handles civil complaints to an open space for local residents. Architects in various areas who understand public concerns including public architects of Seoul City participated in the project. They redesigned and constructed the space after discussion with residents. The core idea of the space improvement is that office space can be added or rearranged according to the changing functions of the community center and the unused remaining spaces can be created into an open space for the convenience of residents such as book café or theater. 200 public architects of Seoul City have participated and taking charge of one center each, created an open space inside the community service center following discussion with local residents. The architect in charge will be there during the entire process through opinion gatherings from local residents, planning, design, and construction to post-management issues that are related to the improvement of the community center space.
With the open space in operation, the community service center naturally becomes the center of local residents and encourages local residents to spread The news to the isolated neighbors and solve community issues together.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government will gradually double its welfare-related workforce in community service centers to 2,450 persons by 2018 to expand the coverage of the Reaching-out Community Service Center to the entire city.
July 2015 | 80 Centers, 13 Autonomous districts |
July 2016 | 283 Centers, 18 Autonomous districts |
July 2017 | 424 Centers, 25 Autonomous districts |
With the implementation of the ‘Reaching-out Community Service Center’ program, the centers can provide customized welfare and health services to residents and residents can find out and solve community issues in an engaging community ecosystem.
Welfare Planner Visiting Nurse | • Realize customized welfare for children seniors and poor families in crisis • Relieve welfare dead zones |
Welfare Counseling Expert | • One-Stop service that integrates welfare, employment legal service and social service |
In-Charge Official of Our Community | • In-charge officials check overall livelihoods of residents • Private-public cooperation in identification and connection of local resources and creation of community network |
Community Project Expert | • Promote resisdents participation, • Create a residents-initiative community through community plans |