The Korea Local Administration Review

This study was conducted to provide empirical development policies by analyzing the current issues of community child centers in small and medium-sized cities with about 100,000 population. In-depth interviews were conducted with 32 people working in community child centers and stakeholders in related organizations (17 center directors and social workers, 15 stakeholders in related organizations) in city A. For data analysis, the thematic analysis of the encoding-decoding-reconstruction process was applied. As a result of the analysis, the experiences and perceptions of workers and stakeholders in related organizations of the community child centers in city A were divided into 15 topics and 36 sub-topics in five categories: general status, children, workers, programs, and finance. Based on these results, the development plan of a community child center in a local small and medium-sized city with a population of approximately 100,000 was presented as follows. First, in the general status category, it is required to find a stable facility operation plan and redefine the role of the community child center. Second, in the category of children, it is proposed to strengthen efficiency through official promotion and adjustment of children-selection ratio. Third, in the category of workers, it is proposed to find ways to solve the problem of manpower shortage at the central government level and to use alternative manpower. Fourth, in the program category, research will be needed to improve the evaluation system. Finally, financial improvement for mid- to long-term development was required.