A Study on the Welfare Blind Spot Management System and Local Government Support

Abstract

In the wake of the ‘Songpa Three Mothers and Daughters’ incident in 2014, Korea has established a support system to preemptively search for those in the welfare blind spot. The central government operated a predictive model of the welfare blind spot excavation and management system to identify potential risk targets, and local governments built systems to support such targets. However, different support measures have been implemented at different local units. There has been no discussion on what kind of response is appropriate at the national level, and this study aims to fill this gap as follows: First, focus group interviews (FGIs) with experts on welfare blind spots by region were held twice in April and May 2022 to select criteria for evaluating support by region. Based on these results, we divided cities into large cities, small towns, and rural areas; selected six regions; and interviewed a total of 30 civil servants in charge of welfare blind spots from July to August 2022. This process confirmed that the support for welfare blind spots at the regional level differed depending on the size of each region, the presence or absence of public welfare projects of local governments, and the linkage with private resources. Based on these results, we would like to propose an effective regional support plan to resolve welfare blind spots.