Parents with Disabilities Living in ‘Group Homes’ May Live with Their Children Until New Home is Found, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare Announces 

From The Tokyo Shimbun

June 7 2024

TOKYO – Japan’s  Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has announced that it will allow disabled people to live with their children until they find a new home, in addition to its previous policy of “not expecting” disabled people to raise their children in group homes (GHs). The ministry has notified local governments nationwide in relation to the issue of disabled people undergoing sterilization procedures at GHs in Hokkaido, a person involved with the matter revealed on June 7th. The aim is to improve the child-rearing environment for disabled people, but even if GHs provide support for child-rearing, there is no public subsidy, so it seems that support will need to be expanded.

The Comprehensive Support Act for Persons with Disabilities stipulates that disabled people must be 18 years of age or older in principle to be able to live in GHs. The notice, dated the 5th, said that it is “basically not expected” for disabled people to live with their children and receive support, but that it is “not an issue to allow them to live with their children” until they find a home with a support system in place. However, it is expected that the response to actually living together will vary depending on the management situation.

The notice clearly states that “support is necessary to realize a life that takes into account the wishes of disabled people.” In order to ensure a nurturing environment, it called for (1) support in finding new housing and (2) cooperation with related child-rearing support organizations.