With a vision of ‘Happy Children Treated with Respect,’ the government confirmed and announced the 1st Five-Year Master Plan for Child-related Policies (2015-2019), which will cost some KRW 4.5 trillion in total. The framework encompasses preparations for the future, healthcare, and safety, extending policy benefits from children in need of protection only to all children. Accordingly, current child welfare programs implemented before development of the master plan should be reviewed, and measures drawn up to effectively expand and revamp them. NABO has assessed child welfare programs (FY 2016 budget: KRW 337.3 billion), mainly ones that support children in need of protection, their self-reliance, and the After-School Care Service.

  Based on empirical analysis of more than 10 rounds of field inspection, interviews with experts and those in charge of onsite work, and related statistical data, this report evaluates child welfare programs, focusing on the propriety of the support system for child welfare service, adequacy of child welfare facility operation, suitability of measures to offer support to minors when they leave the facilities, and efficiency of the After-School Care Service.

  Regarding operation of child welfare facilities and support for minors ready to leave them, analysis shows that child welfare facilities in some cities and provinces suffered from insufficient capacity during some of the years between 2010 and 2014, facing challenges in accommodating the numbers of children in need of protection. In addition, the self-reliance allowance for minors when they leave the facilities differs by municipality, which increases the likelihood of a gap in policy effectiveness. Therefore, the distribution of child welfare facilities by region and the gaps in their capacity need to be considered for effective program management, and the state accountability should be toughened for child welfare programs as they are supposed to guarantee the
national minimum standard of living. To this end, some programs for children in need of protection that are delegated to municipalities can be converted into government-subsidized programs, or the central government can produce a regular forecast for demand and conduct a fact-finding survey on related programs, thus coming up with measures to fill the gap in service quality across regions.

  In terms of the clustering analysis for the After-School Care Service, some of the cities, provinces, and lower administrative districts (si, gun and gu) witness a mismatch between supply and demand, implying inefficiency in budget execution. Four (South Jeolla Province, North Chungcheong Province, South Chungcheong Province, and Gwangju) of the 17 cities and provinces have more supply than demand, while five(Daegu, Incheon, Busan, Seoul, Jeju Island) have greater demand than supply. The clustering of 229 si, gun, and gu shows that 39 of them (17.0%) have an oversupply, while 29 (25.3%) have an undersupply. The government needs to build an institutional framework that will allow si, gun, and gu to adjust the establishment, operation, and allocation of the budget for after-school care providers by reflecting regional variables, and steering committees need to be empowered in si, gun, and gu so they can serve as control towers in coordinating and managing  the duplication of service users and the qualitative difference in service providers.