NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF KOREA Submission to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – July 2022 2 Revision of Article 15(exclusion of persons with mental disabilities) of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities □ Current status and problems ㅇ The government revised Article 15 of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities(December 2021) which excluded persons with psychosocial disabilities from application due to overlapped support systems. ㅇ However, this is a mere deletion of the exclusion provision. Until now, persons with psychosocial disabilities have been excluded from the disability welfare service under the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities, and they are in shade spots of welfare as many of the welfare services under the Mental Health and Welfare Act are prescribed in dispositive provisions. ㅇ As a result, the employment rate of persons with psychosocial disabilities was 10.9%3, the lowest among all types of disabilities, but it was difficult for them to use employment support services due to Article 15 of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities. Only 5.5% of them have used activity assistance services necessary to live on their own in community, and service for self-reliant housing was not available either. The Mental Health and Welfare Act also focuses on ‘treatment’, and thus it is considered to have weak support system to guarantee the right of persons with psychosocial disabilities in health and medical services. □ Recommendations ㅇ Detailed measures should be devised to enable people with psychosocial disabilities to use services for self-reliant housing or employment support through revision of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities to reflect characteristics of mental disabilities in disability welfare service. ㅇ The Mental Health and Welfare Act also has to be reorganized to devise a support system to guarantee the right of persons with mental disabilities in health and medical services. 8