[Family Childcare Support Organization, NPO] Established NPO Family Childcare Support Organization as Japan’s first new intermediate support organization to support family childcare by foster parents, etc.
*NPO Family Childcare Support Organization*
Press release: September 5, 2024
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Established NPO Family Child Care Support Organization as Japan’s first new intermediate support organization to support family child care by foster parents etc.
Announcement date: September 5, 2024
Presenter: NPO Family Childcare Support Organization
With the cooperation of the Nippon Foundation, we have established the NPO Family Child Care Support Organization (Representative: Kazuhiro Kamikado (Professor, Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Director of the University’s Social Child Care Research Institute)). Our organization works together with caregivers, foster parents, adoptive parents (those who raise children through adoption) (hereinafter referred to as “foster parents, etc.”), and foster parents to support and guarantee the child’s upbringing at home. This is Japan’s first network of human resources for practical support personnel.
By promoting awareness of family child rearing by foster parents and providing training and consulting to local governments and foster parent support centers, we aim to increase the understanding that children need to connect with important adults and grow up in society as a whole. We aim to deepen our support and provide high-quality support to foster parents and others.
* 1. Background of establishment *
In Japan, child guidance centers currently receive over 500 cases of abuse per day, and it is statistically reported that one child per week dies due to abuse.
There are currently children in Japan who require social care due to child abuse. Many of them live in children’s homes, but in recent years, research on attachment and trauma has shown that children growing up in stable relationships with adults they can trust can have an impact on the development of various health problems later in life. It is clear that it will be given. For this reason, it is said that it is important for children to grow up in families such as foster parents.
The 2016 (Heisei 28) revision of the Child Welfare Act stipulated in the law that children living in social care should be prioritized in family care such as foster parents, family homes, or adoption. . In addition, a new social care vision was announced in 2017 (Heisei 29), which states that for children under 3 years of age, which is the most important period for attachment formation, it will be within 5 years, and for other pre-school children, it will be within 7 years. The goal was to achieve a foster care placement rate of 75% or more within 2020, and for children after school age to achieve a foster care placement rate of 50% or more within about 10 years.
From 2024 (Reiwa 6), foster parent support centers will be legalized due to further revisions to the Child Welfare Act. In order to create a society where children can grow up happily in safe, secure, and loving homes through the foster care and adoption systems, it is essential to develop the human resources and expand support systems that support this.
Up until now, work related to foster parents has mainly been handled by child guidance centers, but in the future it is expected that foster parent support centers will be established in prefectures and ordinance-designated cities across the country, making the development of human resources an urgent task. I am.
Therefore, several volunteers who have been working on supporting foster parents in Japan for some time held discussions, and after a period of activity as a voluntary organization with support from the Nippon Foundation, from August 2024, the NPO Family Child Care Support Organization We have decided to start our activities as
2. Business details
The main businesses carried out by our corporation are as follows. ・Providing training and consulting to local governments and private organizations
・Human resource development and network building for support practitioners involved in family childcare
・Awareness project related to family care such as foster parents ・Support and evaluation project to improve the quality of private organizations such as foster parent support centers
・Research and research related to family care such as foster parents ・Policy recommendations to national and local governments
3. Achievements so far
* Conducted the UK’s pre-registration foster parent training “Skills to Foster” facilitator training course for the first time in Japan (co-hosted with the Nippon Foundation) *
Fostering, a UK company that leads the world in its pioneering efforts to support foster parents
We invited two instructors from Network and conducted a five-day instructor training session. We welcomed 22 participants from all over the country and many local government observers, and received very positive reviews. In addition, we will continue to foster
Both parties are committed to maintaining a mutually supportive relationship with the Network.
* Webinar hosted by Fostering Network CEO Sara Thomas (co-hosted with Nippon Foundation) *
The event attracted over 260 participants from Japan and overseas and received high praise.
* Japan’s first foster parent recruitment training held in Nagano Prefecture * We held a training course in Nagano Prefecture to learn how to formulate effective foster parent recruitment measures based on our independently developed design thinking. We received a high rating of 100% satisfaction from all 22 participants.
4. Our mission and vision
* Mission: * We aim to create a society that guarantees children the connection with important adults, security and challenge, and a childhood where they can grow up in their own way.
*Vision:*
In order to ensure sufficient understanding and support for children and their caregivers in families where children are raised, including adoption and foster care, we will improve the quality and quantity of support, develop human resources, strengthen cooperation between related organizations, and raise awareness of society. We aim to collaborate with
5. Organization overview
Representative: Kazuhiro Kamishikado (Professor, Waseda University, Director of the Waseda University Social Care Research Institute) Vice Representative: Tatsumasa Hashimoto (Director, Ichiyo, Social Child Care Comprehensive Support Center)
Vice-representative: Satoko Kitagawa (Chairman, Social Welfare Corporation Mugi no Kokai)
Director: Junko Osada (Vice Director, Social Welfare Corporation Futaba Nursery School, Futaba Infant Hospital, Fostering Team Supervisor)
Director: Mamoru Watanabe (Representative of Key Asset, a specified non-profit organization)
Director: Tsuyoshi Sato (West Japan Children’s Training Center Akashi) Employees: Miki Sasaki, Yoshinobu Hori, Yoshie Furuya, Yuki Kamoto Auditor: Hitoshi Aizawa (Specially Appointed Professor at Yamanashi Prefectural University and Oita University)
Advisor: Takeshi Fujibayashi (West Japan Children’s Training Center Testimony Center Director)
-Secretariat-
Hiroki Uemura (Representative of Muyuki General Incorporated Association) Yuki Kamoto (Rikkyo University Education and Research Coordinator)
6. Contact information
For inquiries regarding this matter, please contact us using the contact information below.
Person in charge: Secretariat (Kamimura/Kamoto)
Email address: familychildcare.office@gmail.com
HP: https://familychildcare-office.jimdofree.com/