The 2022 Prospects and Issues for Social Service Policy

Abstract

This paper is aimed to examine the status and issues for social service and welfare policies for the disabled, the elderly and children in 2021. In the area of social service policy, the 'Basic Social Service Plan' will be established for the first time in 2022 based on the Social Service Agency Act. It is necessary to establish the policy vision, basic goal and direction of social service policy that can continuously drive the reinforcement and development of social services policy, and to establish a substantial implementation strategy. In the area of welfare for the disabled, the core policy tasks that have been pursued in the past, such as abolition of the disability rating system, deinstitutionalization policy, and reinforcement of support for the developmentally disabled, should be continued while maintaining the consistency of the policy base. In the area of the welfare policy for the elderly for 2021, while promoting a strategy for strengthening 'aging in place' that allows the elderly to continue living in the local area, additional policy measures are needed to establish the role of medical care and care system to enhance social efficiency provision. The most notable change in the area of child welfare policy can be found in the strengthening of national responsibility and publicity for children in need, who suffer abuse/violence, poverty, and family dissolution. In 2022, it is necessary to reorganize and continuously promote laws and systems to strengthen the public control tower, a more integrated child protection system centered on the child protection teams in local communities.