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Families of special needs kids struggling as gov't fails to deliver

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While many prefectures are preparing to set up support centers by March next year to offer consultation services for such families, some are dragging their feet in providing the necessary help, leaving parents who are facing dire situations feeling abandoned and powerless.

The Japanese bureaucracy:Leaping into action to get money into the hands of the influential and well-connected, throwing up barriers to any assistance to those in need.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

It also requires prefectural governments to set up support centers for families and asks school operators to deploy nurses so the children can attend school without parental escorts.

Then we have:

According to a Kyodo News survey conducted in early March, Okinawa is one of eight prefectures preparing support centers or considering whether they are required. Five prefectures were found to have already set up such centers, while 34, including Tokyo, said plans are in place to have them operational by March next year.

So let me get this straight, in bold, the law requires but prefectures are considering whether they are required.

sounds so typical in Japan must be a loophole some places that will let the prefectures of municipalities get away without doing anything.

I remember when the single parent equality law was passed giving single fathers the same access to services and financial help as single mothers had for decades.

Prefectures and municipalities were upset because they had to pay for it.

So they just made it impossible to get making the bureaucracy for men so difficult as far as I know not one man in my former ward ever qualified.

I know I never succeeded in 10 years, they will just drag their feet until you give up.

I suspect we are going to see the same thing here!

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Those who need help the most are often those who wait the longest. Maybe the relevant bureaucrats should spend a day with these families to acknowledge the reality of not having the support required. However, you may need a crowbar to wedge them from their comfortable chair.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

I don’t understand. The problem is no trained staff or govt spending budget increased so no money?

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One of my friends had a handicapped baby several years ago. Her eye was not formed properly and she was blind in one eye. She also had a slight mental disabilty that would have stopped her attending a normal school. The Family Services told him he was not entitled to any special needs assistance coz her eye was there and they wouldn't acknowledge her mentql disability until she was 12 and could be properly assessed. He was in total disbelief and left Japan. In Australia he has financial support for her and she attends a special needs school. She is now in her teens. Japan really lags in special needs assistance and education.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

This is just the start.

As the military budget continues to rise you'll see more and more social services dry up.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Now, Reo attends a special needs school, but his mother had to accompany him for his first two months to ensure a nurse there understood his specific needs, especially regarding his respiratory issues.

Excuse me? A nurse couldn't comprehend how to meet the needs of her patient so his mother, who is not a nurse had to basically take 2 months off work to train her? I'm flabbergasted...

I don’t understand. The problem is no trained staff or govt spending budget decreased so no money?

Probably both. Japan is not known for helping those that actually need help and support. Their facilities and support systems for people mentioned in the article, handy capable individuals, individuals with mental health issues etc. are all sorely lacking. For a seemingly first world, advanced country, Japan performs dismally when it comes to these social issues.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

"The center will offer advice to parents before they start communicating with local governments, which serve as contacts for nurseries. Goki's parents had wanted to place him in a nursery set up by the Ena city government, but the city responded that they could not secure staff to provide him with the necessary care."

This is what happens when the government always makes lip-service laws and then "leaves it to the localities to deal with how it's implemented". Center says it's up to the city, city says it's up to the center, both say it's up to the central government, central government shrugs and says contact the center or the city, and round and round we go.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

I guess helping Ukraine and punishing Russia takes priority over these children.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

This is the kind of place where I want my tax yens to go. The third largest economic country should have a better system in place for those physically and mentally in need. We've been a "rich" country here for over fifty years.

I don't want to read anymore about the billions of yen being in putting a person on Mars or space exploration that has nothing to do with me; financial aid to countries on the other side of the planet; endless concrete white-elephant projects costing trillions or insane amounts of money; or the unnecessary GoTo Campaign.

Use our money for us, here in Japan, for the poor, the destitute and the good people who need the most help. Kishida is heading us in the right direction with this initiative, but honestly, it should've been started decades ago.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

This is the same government that canceled funding for disabled training due to lack of funds? A week latter announce defence budget record increase, then politicians get ¥12 million for postage. It’s a absurd system of governance it’s not for people at all. But we do know that.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Provide these people with the assistance they need! It is called society. The single mother couldn't secure two months pay while she helped settle her son into day care, yet politicians spend HOW much on themselves?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

I guess helping Ukraine and punishing Russia takes priority over these children

Gosh, I love binary thinking.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

I believe Japan has (by far) the most beds in the world per capita in mental health wards. However, I frequently see comments like "Japan does nothing for the mentally ill". It is very easy to make sweeping generalizations about things we know little about. I suspect the reality is that Japan is just another rich country that could do more for its less fortunate citizens, and perhaps better allocate what money it does spend on them.

While I support the families' case here, I do not think it is outrageous for a parent to have to miss work while helping a child settle in at a special needs school. Millions of parents worldwide happily prioritize their children's wellbeing over work.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

The Japanese Government has money to throw around unnecessarily to other countries and doesn’t care at all about the special needs children in Japan ! They hardly ever allocate funds to deal with these special needs individuals!

It’s just shameful that the Japanese Government throws billions to other countries but when it’s time to give financial assistance to its citizens then they whine so much and never do enough!

They have used more funds in a month for the Ukraine invasion than the 3/11 disaster which happened eleven years ago and still the affected people are suffering!

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

I'm wondering??? Masami Oshiro, 44, a single mother of four why she has to struggle alone. I hope the husband didn't take the high road when the going got tough, but usually this is the case.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

@Rodney I don’t understand. The problem is no trained staff or govt spending budget increased so no money?

I would think it is a combination of both with the government not taking on the problem seriously by not doing so they don't provide a budget for those service by not doing so they can't get the qualified trained people required to help these moms and dads with special needs kids. Japan is not kid to anyone with disabilities look at the services they provide, I can take it even further they have very little regard for personnel safety because they believe in doing it correct by design and that to fails. Recently a building caught on fire and the people couldn't get out because it was a one way in one way out access with too many people in a confined space with only one entry. This is why people problems don't get taken care of because of the government from the local level all the way to the top over looks it.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

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