취약계층 영유아 통합적 육아지원 모형 효과분석 및 모니터링 연구

Abstract

This study defines the term ‘disadvantaged’ as individuals or group of people who are economically deprived (e.g., low-income families, farming and fishing households, multi-cultural families, families with disabled members, and families of North Korean refugees). Young children of low-income families, which account for the majority of the disadvantaged, have been reported to be susceptible to delays in language and cognitive development, and to emotional problems such as depression and poor anger management, and difficulties in forming healthy social relationships.

Even though some ministries are beginning to provide support to the young children of disadvantaged families, a number of problems still remain. Firstly, for young children from low-income families, educational programs are insufficient, which are able to help these children acquire basic learning skills and improve their levels of social and emotional development. Secondly, programs for the parents are not enough, which can help such parents strengthen their child-rearing practices, which are considered the most crucial element for the healthy growth and development of young children. Thirdly, no networks exist which can accurately diagnose and provide appropriate support for the young children of low-income families. Fourthly, no re-training and management system is currently in operation aimed at those teachers and instructors who take part in support programs for low-income families.

To improve the support system for disadvantaged young children, this study has been carried out over the course of three years. In 2009, when the study was first launched, an integrated support model for the disadvantaged young children care was developed and pilot operations were conducted. In 2010, for the second year of the study, the focus was placed on analyzing and monitoring the effectiveness of the integrated model. Programs developed in the first year—tutoring programs for infants, tutoring programs for toddlers, conceptual learning activities using storybooks, and parent training programs—and an integrated model for child care support, which links households, institutions, and communities, were all tested via pilot operations and their effectiveness was verified.

Programs specially developed for disadvantaged young children and parents were implemented to 118 households (59 households for the experimental group and 59 for the comparative group) once a week from May to October 2010 (for a total of 16 weeks). The pilot operation harnessed the delivery systems and expertise of a number of programs. These included the Learning Ability Development program and the Priority Region Program for education and welfare investment developed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Dreamstart project of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Hana Center project of the Ministry of Unification. Pre- and post-tests were carried out in order to analyze the effectiveness of the programs in the young children’s development, health, nutrition, and behavior improvement. Parents’ child-rearing practices, self-esteem, depression, current nurturing, and stress associated with child-rearing were assessed at the pre- and post-tests. The children’s language and cognitive development showed a significant improvement after they participated in the programs for language, cognitive, social, and emotional development. Parental training programs were also proved effective; when parents were provided with practical information and guidelines for child-rearing, their rearing practices were greatly improved.

To monitor the implementation of the integrated support model, weekly reports, surveys, and interviews were conducted with the participants of the pilot operations and their supervisors to assess the recognition, suitability, and satisfaction levels of the model’s delivery system, human resources, application methods, and utilization of the community network. The results of the monitoring indicate that overall, the integrated support model received positive responses from the participants.

The following are the policy recommendations for promoting the adoption and use of the integrated support model for disadvantaged young children.

Firstly, a manual for the adoption of the integrated support model must be developed and distributed. Secondly, professional consulting is required to generalize the integrated model. Thirdly, organized cooperation is requested among the existing support programs of various ministries which are targeted to disadvantaged young children.