Subcommittee formed to improve disability welfare in Kanagawa Prefecture

From NHK

February 23 2021

KANAGAWA – On the 22nd, a subcommittee examining the welfare of persons with disabilities in Kanagawa Prefecture said, “At prefectural facilities for persons with disabilities, the physical restraints of users are not taken into consideration, and improvements are needed.”

In July last year, Kanagawa Prefecture established a subcommittee by experts to verify the welfare of persons with disabilities in response to the murder of 19 people at Tsukui Yamayurien, a prefectural facility for persons with intellectual disabilities in Sagamihara City. So far, staff have been interviewed about the status of six prefectural facilities for persons with disabilities. As a result, at the six facilities, physical restraints were carried out in the name of ensuring the safety of the users, and it was not supported from the user’s perspective, so it is necessary to create a system for improvement in the future.

The subcommittee plans to submit a report to the governor within the fiscal year after pointing out the problems of the prefecture that supervises these facilities.

Professor Emeritus Yoshimichi Ogawa of Kanagawa Institute of Technology, who serves as the chairman of the department, said, “There is a big problem not only in the corporation that operates the facility but also in the prefecture that supervises it. The final report will clarify these points and change the welfare administration of the prefecture. I want to take the first step. “