[앵커]
This is the second time of Open Microphone,’Children Out of Protection’ continuous planning. I interviewed about 20 people and looked into their lives very briefly. The most unfortunate thing was that the 18-year-old ’18-year-old’ alone was a structure that was forced to collapse quickly. If there is no preparation, no adult to come out and help, if all you have is 5 million won in your hand, it would be easy for anyone to fall.
So, this time, we thought about how to help them stand alone.
[기자]
At the age of 18, as soon as they come out into the world as if they are pushed, they become’targets’ of bad adults.
There are always people waiting to get the 5 million won in the government’s self-reliance support.
[어머니가 원래 연락을 안 하시다가 ‘여행 가고 싶다’ 하면서 홀라당 다 쓰신 거예요.]
So life fell to hell in an instant.
[그냥 쫓겨나니까… 며칠 동안 밤새우고, (지하철) 역 밖에, 계단 쪽에 있었죠.]
[말이 유흥업소지, 조건 같은 것 있잖아요. 진짜 많아요. 아는 것만 5명이에요.]
Luckily, those who escaped this kind of work couldn’t find a house right away, so they wandered.
[친구 집에요. (여러 친구집) 돌아다녔는데요. 두 달 정도요.]
[일반 국민들도 집 구하는 게 힘든데, 저희는 LH로 구할 수 있긴 있는데 전셋집이 없다고…]
[(공무원이) 다짜고짜 ‘안 되는데? 아직 뭐 공고 없는데?’ 분명 LH 지원할 때는 된다는 걸 다 알고 있는데… 진짜 너무 힘들었던 것 같아요.]
When all of my property was stolen, when I was about to sit down on the street, there was no one adult reaching out for help.
[떠오르는 사람도 없고, 연락할 사람도 없고 하니까…]
[진짜 가장 힘든 게 연락이라도 다 되면 좋은데, (보육원) 나갔으니까 연락을 진짜 안 받아요. 되게 힘든 상황에서 한 거였는데.]
This was the part that was the most unfortunate part of the interviews with children who have been out of care.
But in fact, there is a system that is designed to hold hands in such a case.
It is the’Independent Support Agent’.
They help children develop self-reliance plans and prepare to stand alone when they turn 15, and continue to help them for five years after they leave.
But why was there not one adult to reach out?
That’s because the number is so scarce.
With only 306 people in the country, one is caring for more than a hundred children.
So if you don’t know at all,
[(자립지원전담요원 아세요?) 아니요.]
Even if you know it, it is a reaction that says’it doesn’t help.
[(노숙할 때) 연락했어도 별 의미 없었을 거예요. 1년에 한 번 (연락) 올까 말까인데…]
Britain is the country where this system is well established.
In the UK, until the age of 25, a’personal counselor’ is required to be closely managed one-on-one.
The level of close management is that when they say they are looking for a house, they will discuss with them the best place to live in and follow them when signing a contract.
Experts believe that we can manage to some extent by reducing the number of children to be cared for by one dedicated independent support agent to about 30.
However, at the present level, it is not helpful to understand how the end-of-care children are living.
[되레 저희한테 물어보시더라고요. 요새 얘는 어떻게 지내는지.]
It even says that you don’t know if you’ve lived or died.
In fact, the end-of-care children who responded to the interview said that death is’frequent’ in their world.
[친한 형 죽었네요. 그게 작년, 차 안에서.]
[한 달에 다섯 명 정도 (극단적 선택)… 무연고자로 처리되는 이런 상황이 워낙 많았어요.]
However, when I inquired with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, they replied that not only how many people had made extreme choices, but also the number of simple deaths,’I do not know’ or’I don’t know’, even for children who are still under care.
Overseas, the suicide rate of end-of-care children is considered important.
[허민숙/국회입법조사관 : 지표 중에 하나인 거죠. 자살하는 이들이 계속 늘어나고 있다면 ‘어디에 공백이 발생한 것일까?’ 정책을 만들었다가 끝이 아닌 거예요. 이 정책이 어떤 효과를 산출하고 있는가를 늘 평가…]
[사회복지사 (보호종료아동) : 그냥 돈 주고 땡 이런 건 아닌가. 조금만 살펴보면, 어떤 걸 지원해주면 아이들이 잘 자립할 수 있는지 나오는데…]
I asked 20 children who had been out of protection,’what would you like best to do for self-reliance?’
I thought I would ask for a little more increase in subsidy, which was insufficient, but it broke my expectations, and most of them answered like this.
[첫 번째는 이제 지켜줄 사람이 아예 없다는 것.]
[받아줄 어른이 있으면 좋겠다.]
[이왕이면 저를 조금 대변해줄 수 있고, 그런 어른이 있었으면 얼마나 좋았을까. 그런 사람이 있었으면 돌아가거나 힘들었던 일은 없었겠다…]
(Video Design: Hwang Soo-bi·Jeong Soo-Im / Video Graphic: Kim Ji-hye / Director: Hong Jae-in)