Social security councils that operate at the community level (districts of eup, myeon, and dong) are an institutional mechanism that enables community participation and public-private cooperation in welfare provision. Community welfare governance via community social security councils (CSSCs) acquires considerable significance when looked in light of welfare pluralism and from the perspective of public administration process that embraces co-production of policies. The fact that community residents can participate in social welfare provision by means of CSSCs means the community has become an institutionalized source of social welfare provision, along with the government, for-profit and family sectors . The involvement of residents in welfare provision means that they, by working in partnership with local authorities in the process of planning, shaping, delivering and evaluating welfare services, complement the municipal government’s limited problem-solving capabilities. CSSCs have begun to be established in 2015. As of 2020, there were 65,708 community residents participating in CSSCs. Pursuant to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Use and Provision of Social Security Benefits and Search for Eligible Beneficiaries, CSSCs work to identify those in the community who are in need, identify and link community social security resources, establish and run community social security programs, and undertake various other tasks aimed at promoting the welfare of community residents. With the legislation in July 2015 of the Act on the Use and Provision of Social Security Benefits and Search for Eligible Beneficiaries, it was made mandatory for eup’s, myeon’s and dong’s to have in place CSSCs, which trace their roots to the Pilot Project on Private-Public Partnership Promotion of 2014. In 2016 and 2017, the Ministry Health and Welfare launched the “Make Your Community a Social Welfare Hub” project. Also, since 2018 the Ministry of Interior and Safety has led the Project on Community-Governed Public Services with the goal of promoting autonomous community living and community-based care. The significance of the progress made so far as regards CSSCs lies in that, with private-public partnership institutionalized in local administrative settings, community residents have become more able to act on their own initiative in public administration concerning welfare production. The scope of participation by residents in community welfare production has extended of late beyond identifying, sharing and linking community resources to planning and making decisions on public services. This brief examines the governance side of CSSCs, drawing on the findings of a perception survey about the operations and performance of, and support provided to CSSCs. The significance of the survey is that it is the first of its kind and scale that was conducted of private members, of whom CSSCs are predominantly made up.
