위기청소년 보호시설의 문제점과 개선방안 - 서울소재 청소년 일시쉼터를 중심으로 -

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identity problems of residential care facilities for youths at risk and present efficient improvement measures against them. First, this study specified operational realities, trends, and problems of youth shelters through relevant literature research. In addition, through the research of interviewing experts currently working for youth shelters, this study intended to identify operational and functional problems that residential care facilities for youth are actually faced with and seek feasible improvement measures that can be practically applied. Interview research was carried out to two employees working for fixed-type shelters located in Seoul on January 9 and 12, 2015. Problems with establishing and managing youth shelters included the shortage of shelters, the inequality between the rich and the poor of operational expenses for each shelter, the management of improperly-run shelters, the inadequate maintenance of nationwide shelters, and the unestablished communication system for youths in shelters. As for improvement measures for the above problems, first, each of temporary, short-term, and middle-and-long-term shelters should restore their original functions. Besides, they should not be limited to a monolithic self-supporting program and instead be reformed into shelters which have characteristics suitable for a variety of needs of youths. Second, it is necessary to redeem loopholes of welfare for youths over twenty years old by adjusting the self-reliance period of youths. Finally, it is necessary to establish the system of unifying and managing youth information, which embraces diverse management institutions for youths at risk. In particular, because runaway teenagers often move, it is difficult to trace them in certain regions or some institutions. In addition, currently institutions for managing youths at risk are sporadically divided rather than being integrated into one. Therefore, it is necessary to systematically collect and manage information under the supervision of a central department in full charge. In order to identify problems which take place in the actual management of shelters and reflect opinions of workers in shelters, the research of interviewing employees working for shelters was carried out. However, the research has limits in that survey targets were limited to employees working for temporary shelters located in Seoul and it could reflect views of youths using those shelters.