From early detection of at-risk youth to counseling and welfare linkage… Operation of a community-based youth safety net

Chungnam Provincial University's Career and Psychological Counseling Center and the Cheongyang-gun Youth Counseling and Welfare Center have joined forces to protect the mental health of local youth and strengthen crisis response.

On the 25th, the two organizations held a 'Youth Safety Net Business Agreement Ceremony' at the student center of Chungnam Provincial University, promising mutual cooperation to establish a system for early detection, counseling, and welfare support for at-risk youth and out-of-school youth.

Park Min-ho, Head of Career Support at Chungnam Provincial University, and Center Directors Kim Kyung-joo and Park Si-yeon were present at the signing ceremony, emphasizing the necessity and direction of joint response between the institutions.

This business agreement is part of an effort to provide more practical support through a cooperative system between specialized institutions in the face of increasing psychological and emotional difficulties among youth.

The two organizations agreed to establish an information sharing and early detection system to identify adolescents experiencing psychological crises both inside and outside of school. In particular, more active outreach and identification will be carried out for out-of-school youth, who are often not protected by the existing institutional framework.

Regular psychological counseling by professional counselors will be provided to adolescents in need of psychological support. Chungnam Provincial University's Career and Psychological Counseling Center will operate psychological assessment and counseling programs to help youth's emotional stability and career exploration, and the Cheongyang-gun Youth Counseling and Welfare Center will provide integrated services through its network with local youth welfare professionals.

If additional treatment is necessary after psychological counseling, information on psychological treatment and treatment cost support through linkage with medical institutions will be provided to the adolescents.

Regular case conferences and workshops will be held to share information between institutions, and a joint response manual for intervening in youth crises will also be developed. In addition, counseling capabilities will be mutually complemented through the exchange and consultation of professional personnel.

This agreement will go beyond the single cooperation of the two institutions and serve as a focal point for fostering organic cooperation with related organizations such as elementary, middle, and high schools, public health centers, and police stations in the region.

Through this, the plan is to lay the groundwork for the practical operation of a community-based youth safety net.

Park Min-ho, Head of Career Support, stated, "This agreement is a very practical solidarity that protects the lives of individual youths and university students, and a significant milestone in strengthening the psychological safety net of the local community." He added, "We expect that the organic cooperation between the two institutions will improve the quality of youth counseling and welfare services in the region."