보건의료법체계를 고려한 장애아동 지원 정책- 장애아동 「발달재활서비스」사업을 중심으로 -

Children with disabilities should be considered the first priority in public welfare policy, as they are not only young but also disabled. In enacting public welfare policy, they should be considered separately from the other children or the rest of the disabled population, and their needs and their right to welfare must be protected legally. To address this issue, Public Welfare Act for Children with Disabilities was executed in 2012; The Ministry of Health and Welfare started Rehabilitation for Children with Disabilities in 2008 and has continued this project under the name of Developmental Rehabilitation Program for Children with Disabilities (Public Welfare Act for Children with Disabilities Title 21). Children with disabilities need more attention in their development than those without disabilities. They also require rehabilitation treatments under the supervision of therapists, which cost a lot of money. To relieve the financial burden imposed on the children and their families, this project supports the children and their families by issuing the vouchers and having them use the voucher to receive rehabilitation treatments in the selected centers. This project uses the logic of market and let the selected centers compete each other, from which the children not only benefit financially but also enjoy increased opportunity to treatments. Even though the number of rehabilitation centers increased and the treatments more accessible through this project, it still has a lot to make up for. Since physical therapy and work therapy are classified as medical practice that require medical supervision, they are currently out of the scope of this project; only the non-medical treatments such as psychological therapy, art therapy, and behavioral therapy are supported. Even though this is understandable in that covering the medical therapies will accompany conflicts in administration, what the children—especially those with financial difficulties—need the most should be considered first. Thus, the details of the project should be revised and expanded according to the exact needs of the children. How the project is managed should be improved as well. Using the logic of market to expand the rehabilitation services seems optimistic. However, the government has the responsibility to manage and supervise the market, as lack of proper management and supervision by the government can lead to lack of proper support to the children. Thus, the government should make an effort to improve the project and to manage the efficient administration of the budget.