No.32 Creating Safe Spaces for Children After School

(Inagi Newsletter, June 15, 2014 issue)

As a new initiative for the new fiscal year, we started the "After-School Children's Program" in April 2014.
In Inagi City, we have traditionally enhanced the "Children's Center and After-School Childcare Program" as measures for elementary school students after school. The Children's Center is one of the child welfare facilities stipulated by the Child Welfare Act, aimed at providing healthy play, promoting health, and enriching emotional development. The After-School Childcare Program is a facility that supports play and daily life for elementary school students in grades 1 to 3 who return home after school to find that no Parent or Guardian is at home. Recently, with the increase in working Parent or Guardians, the demand for Children's Centers and After-School Childcare Programs has been on the rise.
The Children's Center has no capacity limit, but the number of children that can be accepted is limited by the facility. The After-School Childcare Program has a capacity limit, and there are children on the waiting list who wish to enroll, making it a challenge in recent years alongside the waiting list issue at Childcare Centers. However, both services require dedicated facilities, and increasing the number of accepted children or establishing new facilities is not easy. Therefore, we have decided to start a project to effectively utilize existing school facilities, such as vacant classrooms and gymnasiums, with the cooperation of the Board of Education and each elementary school.
Although these are similar, the Children's Center and After-School Childcare Program are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, while the After-School Children's Program is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and their business contents differ. In some cities and wards, there have been moves to integrate these programs, but since the Children's Center is a facility for free visits, the After-School Childcare Program is a childcare facility, and the After-School Children's Program provides a place for children after school and monitoring services, the personnel and services provided differ for each, so the current policy is not to integrate them. This new initiative requires more than 50 million yen annually even in the trial phase, but we have decided not to abolish the traditional After-School Childcare Program and to implement both.
The After-School Children's Program does not have a set capacity, and there are no usage fees other than for health insurance enrollment. Therefore, it can essentially accommodate all applicants, which is considered to help alleviate the waiting list for the After-School Childcare Program. This year, we will conduct a trial for grades 1 to 3 in areas where there are waiting children in the After-School Childcare Program (8 out of 11 schools). We will verify the implementation status and consider expanding the program to all schools and to include up to 6th grade in the future.
In order to support the healthy development of children who will shape the future of Inagi, we will develop policies based on your opinions, so we ask for your understanding.