Research Report
A Study on Improving Legal System for Youth Welfare Support
I. Background and Purpose of Research
▶ Background and Needs of This Research
○ Youths grow up healthy and harmonious with the necessary education and protection at home and school, while at home and school. Active attention and support from families, the state, and society are needed because they may be in a crisis, such as having difficulty in academic performance or living as a member of society while being influenced by various environments such as society
- For these youths, it is necessary to help them transition to a successful adulthood by improving the environment causing crisis or helping them overcome the crisis.
○ Currently, there are various legal systems for youths, including the Framework Act on Youth, but it is divided into areas and a separate legal system for adjacent ages such as children and young people is established, so it is necessary to properly recognize the situation of teenagers and understand the overall legal system.
○ In particular, it is necessary to examine the overall legal system so that the Youth Welfare Support Act can function as an appropriate protection and support system for adolescents when they are in a situation where they may experience a crisis in healthy and harmonious growth.
▶ Purpose of Research
○ The purpose of this study is to analyze the contents of the current law so that the current youth welfare support system can function as an appropriate welfare support system for youths in various crisis situations, strengthen the link with the welfare support system for children and young people, and strengthen welfare support for them.
Ⅱ. Contents
▶ Analysis of the Youth Welfare Support Act and Related Acts
○ The Youth Welfare Support Act has been revised 18 times since its enactment in 2004, and among them, the history and system are analyzed focusing on the contents of the enacted law, the 2012 revised law, and the 2021 partially revised law.
- Based on Article 49 (4) of the Framework Act on Youth, the 2004 Act was enacted to determine the responsibilities and obligations of families, society, and the state for improving youth welfare.
- Through the revision in 2012, the contents of the youth's human rights guarantee and welfare improvement were deleted, the community's integrated youth support system, youth welfare institutions, and youth welfare facilities were added, and the special support youth was reorganized into a youth at risk support system.
- In 2021, the term was changed to "out-of-home youth" to strengthen the protection and support policy for runaway youth, reinforced related regulations, established a basis for supporting youth parents, and established a dedicated organization for integrated support and management of youth at risk.
- The Youth Welfare Support Act forms a legal system for youth welfare improvement through support for youth parents, youth health security, youth community integrated support system, youth welfare support institutions, and youth welfare facilities.
○ In addition to the Youth Welfare Support Act, the Framework Act on Youth and Out-of-School Youth Support Act is applied, and it is closely related to child and youth policies and family support policies
▶ Review of Major Issues of the Youth Welfare Support Act
○ Regarding the support for youth in crisis, which is the main content of the Youth Welfare Support Act, it can be said that the concept of youth at risk and the basis for the fact-finding survey are unclear.
- Although the concept of youth at risk does not contain various types of youth at risk under the law, a fact-finding survey under Article 2-2 of the Act is not appropriate as the basis for a fact-finding survey on youth at risk.
○ Considering the fact that the number of out-of-home adolescents is increasing, effective protection and support are required, but the current legal regulations are insufficient compared to the Child Welfare Act.
○ Family support services, welfare support, education support, and employment support are stipulated for support for youth parents, but welfare support or education support may not be eligible for support because household income standards are applied, and health examinations or housing support are not guaranteed compared to a single youth parent.
○ The physical examination and health examination regulations stipulated on youth health security are limited, so the overall youth health security policy has low sensitivity, and the policy on mental health promotion in addition to physical health needs to be reinforced.
▶ Improvements of the Legal System for Supporting Youth Welfare
○ Revising the definition of youth in crisis and establishing the basis for a fact-finding survey
- It states that policy intervention is necessary to add personal, educational, and social factors in addition to family problems as the cause of the crisis, and to ensure harmonious and healthy growth and development.
- Since Article 2-2 of the current Act is suitable as the basis for a comprehensive youth survey and is not appropriate as the basis for a crisis youth survey, a plan to provide a separate basis and transfer the contents of Article 2-2 of the current Act to the Youth Basic Act and amend the provisions to the contents of the crisis youth survey.
○ Implementing Out-of-Home Youth Support Policy
- Since there are no other support measures other than the use of shelters for out-of-home youth, and policies for supporting self-reliance need to be strengthened after leaving the shelter, it is proposed to provide legal grounds for self-reliance support allowances and to stipulate the basis for investigation of out-of-home youth.
○ Strengthening support policies for adolescent parents
- Compared to the contents of support for single-parent youth, it is necessary to reinforce the contents of health examinations and housing support necessary for youth parent.
○ Realizing the guarantee of youth health rights by strengthening policies to promote youth mental health
- In addition to the health of adolescents in need of protection and support, the current law adds information on improving mental health in addition to physical health and suggests an amendment to strengthen measures for health protection
Ⅲ. Expected Effects
○ It contributes to revitalizing legal research in the field of youth welfare in the future by deriving measures to improve youth welfare laws as an appropriate protection and support system for youth in various crisis situations such as youth at risk and youth parents.
○ It contributes to promoting the welfare of youth at risk and promoting healthy growth by establishing policy directions for youth at risk support and improving the legal system for youth welfare support.