After ‘Group Home’ Scandal, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to “examine definition” to clarify situation of people waiting for admission to facilities for people with disabilities

From The Fukui Shimbun via Yahoo! Japan

August 3 2024

TOKYO – Regarding the issue of people nationwide on waiting lists due to a lack of vacancies in residential facilities and group homes (GHs) for people with disabilities, the Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Keizo Takemi expressed his intention to clarify the actual situation of those on the waiting list at a press conference on July 23rd.

Minister Takemi stated, “It is certainly not desirable for people with severe intellectual disabilities to be worried about housing as their parents age,” and said that the “Study on the Status of Residential Facilities,” which began this year, will investigate the definition and status of identification of those on the waiting list in each local government.

In a survey conducted by NHK, which received responses from 47 prefectures and 696 cities, wards, towns and villages, which account for 40% of the total, it was found that a total of 22,000 people were on the waiting list for facilities and GHs.

Among those on the waiting list, there are cases where one person applies for multiple facilities, and cases where people apply in preparation for the future, and the degree of need is not necessarily the same. For this reason, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare intends to clarify the definition and method of identification.

Due to the lack of facilities and group homes, there is no end to the cases of desperate families killing disabled people.

On July 4th, a severely intellectually disabled man (44) was murdered by his father (77) in Chosei Village, Chiba Prefecture. It was discovered that the man had been living in Kanagawa Prefecture until the end of May, and had been a regular short-term user of the prefectural disability support facility “Nakai Yamayuri En,” staying for one or two nights.

After being turned down for admission to the facility or group home, the family moved to Chiba. The father, exhausted from caring for his man, who was always on the move at night, became pessimistic about the future.

Kanagawa Prefecture does not publish the number of people on the waiting list for facilities or group homes in the prefecture, and does not know the occupancy rate of short-term care facilities. This tragic incident occurred amid a lack of clarity about the needs and the track record of providing services.

Taking the situation seriously, the prefecture announced on July 29th that it would investigate whether the necessary support had been given to this family. It said it would publish the results of the investigation in October, while also listening to the opinions of third parties.