Japan’s Children and Families Agency Considers “Children’s Homes” [Podcast Episode]

By Barrier Free Japan

February 19 2026

TOKYO – Japan’s Children and Families Agency has begun considering the creation of small-scale residential facilities tentatively called “Children’s Homes” for children with disabilities, aiming to enable them to live closer to the communities where they were born and raised. A draft proposal presented at an expert panel on the future of institutional care highlighted concerns that many children are currently placed in large, distant facilities, limiting contact with their families. The envisioned Children’s Homes would provide a more home-like, small-group environment while maintaining family ties, with trained staff assigned to support children with severe behavioural disorders or medical care needs and access to external services such as visiting nursing care, as the government looks ahead to possible legal revisions.

Episode notes: 

‘Japan’s Children and Families Agency Considers “Children’s Homes”’:

Japan’s Children and Families Agency Considers “Children’s Homes”