Jeju children miss out on 31.7 million won in meal support due to administrative lapses

In Jeju, a failure in administrative duties by community centers has left vulnerable children unable to access crucial meal support. An audit by the Jeju Provincial Audit Committee revealed that 36 children at risk of food insecurity in three districts were unable to utilize a total of 35.14 million won in meal support funds over the 2024-2025 period. This amounts to an average of 976,000 won per child that went unused.

Jeju Province provides daily meal support of 20,000 won (30,000 won during holidays) to children from low-income households. The system involves cities depositing funds into a central account, which then charges individual meal cards monthly. Community centers are responsible for monitoring card usage and contacting children who haven't used their funds, as well as checking their meal status to prevent food insecurity.

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The audit committee found that in the first to third quarters, no specific measures were taken, and only in the fourth quarter were children who did not use their meal cards contacted via text or phone, with no home visits.

However, the audit found that in the affected districts, staff took no action for the first three quarters, only making minimal contact via text or phone in the fourth quarter and neglecting home visits. This oversight resulted in nine children not using any of their allocated funds for the entire year. Notably, one teenage brother pair missed out on 3.17 million won because they were not guided on how to use their meal cards, leading officials to mistakenly believe their eligibility was suspended.

As a result, the heads of the community centers in these three districts have received a "caution" and are now required to monitor meal card usage monthly. They must also actively encourage usage through phone consultations and home visits for children who have not utilized their funds.

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The support eligibility was mistakenly believed to be suspended due to the lack of guidance.