Individuals with jobs that involve direct contact with their neighbors can play a vital role in identifying people in crisis who may not be receiving the necessary social support. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
CHANGWON, Nov. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – Individuals with jobs that involve direct contact with their neighbors can play a vital role in identifying people in crisis who may not be receiving the necessary social support.
Those employed in occupations like mail carriers, meter readers, real estate agents, and hairdressers, among others, are well-positioned to recognize neighbors in need during their daily activities. The overarching goal is to strengthen the social safety net by sharing information about neighbors in distress with local administrative welfare centers.
These neighbors, once identified, can receive assistance from both local government entities and welfare organizations. An initiative called the ‘Gyeongnam Happiness Keepers’ has been launched in South Gyeongsang Province (Gyeongnam) to facilitate this process, marked by a recent launch ceremony. The group comprises over 34,000 residents of the province whose jobs require them to interact with their neighbors.
Additionally, 10,000 members from six organizations, including the Korea Association of Real Estate Agents, the Gyeongnam Branch of the Korea Beauty Association, Gyeongnam Energy, the Gyeongnam Regional Headquarters of the National Health Insurance Service, Changwon Post Office, and KEPCO MCS are actively participating in this effort.
In recent years, the role of postal workers has gained significance in identifying households in crisis. A proposed bill even suggests making it mandatory for delivery personnel to report such critical situations.
As the importance of actively identifying and supporting vulnerable individuals falling within a welfare blind spot gains prominence, the proposal aims to include delivery personnel as mandatory reporters.
Presently, the law designates welfare facility workers, medical personnel, health center employees, and police officers as obligated to report crisis cases, particularly for social security benefit recipients, but postal workers, who are considered public service workers, are excluded from this responsibility.
Many argue that postal workers should be included as mandatory reporters due to their direct mail delivery interactions, familiarity with local conditions, and ability to detect signs of crisis in their work.
According to data from the Korean Postal Service, a pilot program called the ‘Welfare Registration Service’ was implemented by eight local governments from July of last year to March of this year. The program utilized postal workers and successfully identified 7,434 households in crisis, with 1,162 of them subsequently receiving social security support, such as basic living benefits.
Recently, local governments have been placing a strong emphasis on the role of postal workers in identifying socially isolated households. For instance, the city of Chungju in North Chungcheong Province has highlighted the importance of postal workers in locating socially isolated households to prevent deaths due to loneliness.
Postal workers at the Chungju Post Office will report addresses with piled-up mail to the General Welfare Center, after which social workers will visit and counsel these households to mitigate the effects of loneliness.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
