The Formation Process and Current Issues of Regional Centers for Children

Since the amendment of Child Welfare Law in 2003, the regional centers for children have been a part of the child welfare system, providing child-care services for families in poverty. In Korea, the regional centers for children were established during the poverty movement in the 1970s and have been developed as childcare providers for poor children since the financial crisis. However, the identity of regional centers for children is being threatened as the universal perspective on caring and the public values of caring services are being strengthened. There has raised a controversy around the role of regional centers for children that provide child-care services for vulnerable families. In addition, the survival of the regional centers for children is being threatened due to some issues regarding the content of their program as it is similar to those of other child-care agencies, the lack of cooperation among the ministries of government addressing public needs for child-care services, the poor working conditions of center employees, and the poor quality of services. The purpose of this study is to examine the formation process of the regional centers for children. After that, we discuss the current issues of the regional centers for children and seek alternatives that can settle the problems and respond properly to social changes.