발달장애인 공공후견지원사업의 방향성

Abstract

This paper defines the public guardianship services provided in accordance with Article 9 of the Guarantee of the Rights of, and Assistance to, Persons with Developmental Disabilities Act (so-called the Persons with Developmental Disability Act) as a social service of the Basic Social Security Act. This paper also emphasizes that the public guardianship services should be differentiated from the guardianship services provided for by both professionals and relatives, in that the public guardianship services are focused on the guarantee of the safe living in the communities of persons with developmental disabilities. The purpose of the public guardianship services is to assist their decision makings in relation to medical treatments, care and daily living and occasionally to represent them in those decision makings. That being said, those decision makings can include the decision makings in relation to the management of their property for medical treatment, care and daily living, the nature of which is enduring or lasting. In the current guardianship system, the guardianship which is enduring or lasting is limited to full guardianship and limited guardianship, which incur huge social expenditure; moreover those two types of guardianship is likely to infringe the human rights of persons under guardianship. This paper therefore argues that the assistance of decision makings in relation to the management of the property should be replaced by the developmental disability trusts as much as possible. The Article 19 of the Persons with Developmental Disabilities Act provides that the individual support plan shall be made to persons with developmental disabilities, the purpose of which is to guarantee their safe living in the communities. The public guardianship services and trust services can be included in the individual support plan. Moreover, The Article 19 of the Persons with Developmental Disabilities Act provides that the advocacy agencies, The Assistance Centers for the Persons with Developmental Disabilities, shall prevent and rescue persons with developmental disabilities from dangers. For that purpose, the public guardianship services and trust services can be exploited. That being said, whereas the public guardianship services shall be provided for in accordance with Article 9 of that Act, the Persons with Developmental Disabilities Act does not have any provision on the trust services. If both services are provided to the persons with developmental disabilities, the very environment for the safe living in the communities can be promoted.