The Protection and Support of Missing Children and Disabled People: Key Issues and Improvement Options

Abstract

While with the implementation in 2005 of the Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children, a legal-institutional framework has been established for protecting and supporting missing children and adults with disabilities, no comprehensive assessment or analysis has been conducted on the protection-support system. The issue of missing children and disabled individuals is unlikely to attract sustained policy attention unless certain cases arise that capture public visibility. Thus, there is a need for increased institutional attention to the missing, as well as improvements and directional shifts in the protection-support system. While, pursuant to the Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children, the protection-support system is administered under the dual control of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Policy Agency, with detailed support tasks handled exclusively by the National Center for the Rights of the Child, there is a need for local governments to undertake increased roles and responsibilities. It is necessary to consolidate and coordinate the diverse duties undertaken by these distinct organizations in protecting and supporting missing children and disabled persons. In addition, efforts should be directed toward enhancing their expertise and fostering active collaboration among them in their mission.