Child consultation center - Jidou Soudanjo

Japanese: 児童相談所 - じどうそうだんじょ

An administrative agency whose main purpose is to promote the welfare of children and protect their rights by providing assistance to families and others who have concerns about children, while sharing appropriate roles and coordinating with municipalities. Based on Article 12 of the Child Welfare Act (Act No. 164 of 1947), all prefectures and cities designated by government ordinance are required to have such centers, and they can also be established in core cities, cities designated by government ordinance, and special wards (collectively referred to as cities with child consultation centers). As of April 2016, there were 209 centers nationwide.

Child consultation centers are operated based on the "Child Guidance Center Operation Guidelines" (revised in February 2005), and in principle, the operational structure is structured around three departments: General Affairs, Consultation, Assessment, Guidance and Measures, and Temporary Protection. The reception committee, assessment committee, and support policy committee, each of which is made up of specialists, discuss and verify support for children, guardians, etc.

Originally, child consultation centers were, as the name suggests, comprehensive consultation centers for children. The December 2004 amendment to the Child Welfare Law clarified that municipalities were legally responsible for providing child and family consultation services, and called on municipalities, which are close to residents, to take proactive measures, focusing on the prevention and early detection of abuse. Meanwhile, the role of child consultation centers was to improve the child and family consultation system in the region, such as coordinating liaison between municipalities, responding to cases that require specialized knowledge and skills, and providing logistical support to municipalities. Based on the purpose of these legal amendments, child consultation centers will not only provide appropriate support to municipalities that provide child and family consultation services, but will also respond quickly and appropriately to child and family consultations by strengthening cooperation with a wide range of specialized institutions and occupations, and making effective use of the system of judicial involvement. At the same time, they will be more proactive in providing support to families, including not only children but also their guardians, by giving consideration to promoting parent-child (family) reunification so that parents and children can accept each other in a safe and secure environment, and by providing other considerations necessary for children who have been abused to live in a good family environment.

[Takashi Nakamura July 19, 2017]

Staff

In addition to the director and heads of each department, the facility will have staff such as child welfare officers (child social workers), child psychologists, counselors, doctors (psychiatrists, pediatricians), nurses, public health nurses, psychological therapy staff, clinical laboratory technicians, physiotherapists (including speech therapy staff), child guidance staff, childcare workers, child abuse response staff, temporary protection response staff, nutritionists, and cooks.

[Takashi Nakamura July 19, 2017]

Main business

(1) accepting consultations, (2) investigating and diagnosing (social, medical, and psychological diagnoses), (3) holding evaluation meetings and deciding on assistance content, (4) providing assistance (home and day care guidance, guidance for child welfare officers, child welfare committee members, and child and family support centers, and mediation with other agencies), (5) promoting foster care placements, (6) placing children in child welfare facilities, and referral to designated medical institutions, (7) providing assistance to children in independent living (independent living assistance homes), (8) referring to welfare offices, (9) referring to family courts (petitions for domestic relations judgments, requests for the termination of parental rights, requests for the appointment and dismissal of guardians, etc.), (10) identifying problems faced by children and families in the jurisdiction and taking preventive measures, (11) providing lifestyle guidance, behavioral observation, behavioral diagnosis, and health management assistance for children under temporary custody, etc.

[Takashi Nakamura July 19, 2017]

assignment

Although municipalities are now in charge of child and family consultations, the function of child consultation centers as a general consultation window has not been reduced. In fiscal 2015, child consultation centers received 439,200 consultations. The contents of these consultations are divided into disability consultations such as children with disabilities and developmental disorders, upbringing consultations such as school refusal, consultations about divorce between parents, child welfare consultations such as abused children, delinquency consultations, health consultations such as premature babies, and other consultations, with the majority of these being consultations about disabilities (42.2%). However, the number of consultations about child abuse at child consultation centers exceeds 100,000 per year, and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare attributes this increase to heightened awareness of child abuse among the public and related organizations, due to the expansion of the scope of psychological abuse, the publicity of the nationwide child consultation center hotline to three digits (189), and media coverage of child abuse cases.

In order to strengthen measures to prevent child abuse, which is becoming increasingly serious, the Child Welfare Act and other laws were revised in 2016 to strengthen the system of child consultation centers as follows: (1) child psychologists, doctors or public health nurses, and supervisors (child welfare officers who provide guidance and education to other child welfare officers) will be assigned, (2) child welfare officers (including supervisors) must take training that meets national standards, and (3) local governments that establish child consultation centers must assign lawyers or take equivalent measures to ensure that tasks that require specialized legal knowledge and experience are carried out appropriately and smoothly.

Regarding strengthening the authority of child consultation centers, the following provisions were made: (1) a new system of case referral from child consultation centers to municipalities will be established, (2) inspections and searches will be able to be carried out with a court's permission without a request for a re-appearance, (3) it will be stipulated that when child consultation centers or municipalities request the provision of materials related to abused children, etc., medical institutions, child welfare facilities, schools, etc., in addition to local government agencies, may provide such materials, and (4) the government will promptly review the form of court involvement in procedures related to measures to appropriately protect children in need of protection after the revised law comes into effect and take necessary measures based on the results of the review.

In the future, it will be necessary to actively hire specialist staff (especially child welfare officers and child psychologists) rather than general administrative staff, and to ensure that the number of staff allocated is commensurate with the amount of work. In addition, it is also necessary to introduce a guardian support system by judicial institutions aimed at "family reunification," and to establish specialized equipment and operating standards for temporary shelters.

[Takashi Nakamura July 19, 2017]

"Providing counseling and support for children and families -- Municipal child and family counseling and support guidelines, and child consultation center management guidelines" (2005), edited and published by the Japan Child Welfare Association; "The Current State of Child Consultation Centers -- Field Reports from Child Welfare Officers" (2012, Minerva Publishing); "Support for Children and Families and the Child and Family Welfare System," 3rd edition, edited by Jun Saimura, Matsujiro Shibano, and Yasuo Matsubara. (2015, Minerva Publishing)

[Reference] | Family Court | Child Welfare | Child Welfare Law | Welfare Office

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

市町村と適切な役割分担・連携を図りつつ、子どもに関する家庭その他からの相談に応じ援助を行うことにより、子どもの福祉を図るとともに、その権利を擁護することを主たる目的とした行政機関。児童福祉法（昭和22年法律第164号）第12条に基づいて、全国の都道府県および政令指定都市に設置することが義務づけられ、加えて中核市と政令で定める市および特別区（あわせて児童相談所設置市等）にも設置できる。2016年（平成28）4月の時点で、全国に209か所設置されている。

　児童相談所の運営は「児童相談所運営指針」（2005年2月改正）に基づいており、業務遂行体制は原則として総務部門、相談・判定・指導・措置部門、一時保護部門の3部門制をとっている。それぞれの専門職からなる受理会議、判定会議、援助方針会議において子ども、保護者等の援助について検討し、さらに検証していく作業を行う。

　もともと児童相談所は、その名のとおり児童に関する総合的な相談機関であった。2004年12月の児童福祉法の改正により、市町村が児童家庭相談に応じることを業務として法律上明確にされ、住民に身近な市町村に対して、虐待の未然防止・早期発見を中心とした積極的な取組みを求めることになった。一方、児童相談所の役割については、市町村相互間の連絡調整や、専門的な知識および技術を必要とする事例への対応、市町村の後方支援等、地域における児童家庭相談体制の充実を図ることになった。児童相談所は、こうした法律改正の趣旨を踏まえ、児童家庭相談に応じる市町村に対して適切な支援を行うことはもとより、幅広い専門機関や職種との連携強化、司法関与の仕組みの有効活用等により、児童家庭相談に迅速かつ的確に対応することになった。同時に、親子が安全で安心できる状態でお互いを受け入れられるようになる親子（家族）再統合の促進への配慮、その他の児童虐待を受けた子どもが良好な家庭的環境で生活するために必要な配慮をするなど、子どものみならず保護者も含めた家庭への支援にいっそう積極的に取り組むこととなった。

［中村強士　2017年7月19日］

職員

所長、各部門長のほか、児童福祉司（児童ソーシャルワーカー）、児童心理司、相談員、医師（精神科医、小児科医）、看護師、保健師、心理療法担当職員、臨床検査技師、理学療法士（言語治療担当職員を含む）、児童指導員、保育士、児童虐待対応協力員、一時保護対応協力員、栄養士、調理員などの職員が配置される。

［中村強士　2017年7月19日］

おもな業務

(1)相談の受付、(2)調査、診断（社会診断、医学診断、心理診断）、(3)判定会議の実施と援助内容の決定、(4)援助の実行（在宅・通所指導、児童福祉司・児童委員・児童家庭支援センター指導、他機関斡旋(あっせん)）、(5)里親委託推進、(6)児童福祉施設入所措置、指定医療機関委託、(7)児童自立生活援助の実施（自立援助ホーム）、(8)福祉事務所送致、(9)家庭裁判所送致（家事審判の申立て、親権喪失宣告の請求、後見人選任・解任の請求など）、(10)管轄区域における子どもや家庭が抱える問題の把握および予防的活動、(11)一時保護している子どもの生活指導、行動観察、行動診断、健康管理の援助、などである。

［中村強士　2017年7月19日］

課題

市町村が児童家庭相談の業務を担うことになったとはいえ、児童相談所の総合相談窓口としての機能は縮小されていない。児童相談所への相談は2015年度は43万9200件に上っている。その内容は、障害児、発達障害などの障害相談、不登校などの育成相談、父母の離婚についての相談、被虐待児などの養護相談、非行相談、未熟児などの保健相談、その他の相談に分けられるが、そのうちもっとも多い相談が障害相談である（42.2％）。ただし、児童相談所における児童虐待に関する相談件数は年間10万件を超え、その増加の理由について厚生労働省は、心理的虐待の範囲を拡大したり、児童相談所全国共通ダイヤルの3桁化（189）の広報、マスコミによる児童虐待の事件報道等により、国民や関係機関の児童虐待に対する意識が高まったことによるとしている。

　こうした深刻化する児童虐待の防止対策を強化するために2016年に児童福祉法等が改正され、次のような児童相談所の体制強化が行われた。(1)児童心理司、医師または保健師、スーパーバイザー（他の児童福祉司の指導・教育を行う児童福祉司）を配置する、(2)児童福祉司（スーパーバイザーを含む）は、国の基準に適合する研修を受講しなければならないものとする、(3)児童相談所設置自治体は、法律に関する専門的な知識経験を必要とする業務を適切かつ円滑に行うため、弁護士の配置またはこれに準ずる措置を行うものとする。

　また児童相談所の権限強化等については、(1)児童相談所から市町村への事案送致を新設する、(2)臨検・捜索について、再出頭要求を経ずとも、裁判所の許可状により、実施できるものとする、(3)児童相談所・市町村から被虐待児童等に関する資料等の提供を求められた場合、地方公共団体の機関に加え、医療機関、児童福祉施設、学校等が当該資料を提供できる旨を規定する、(4)政府は、改正法の施行後速やかに、要保護児童を適切に保護するための措置に係る手続における裁判所の関与のあり方について検討を加え、その結果に基づいて必要な措置を講ずるものとする、とされた。

　今後はさらに、一般事務職ではなく専門職（とくに児童福祉司と児童心理司）の積極的な採用や業務量に見合った職員配置数の確保が必要である。さらに、「家族再統合」に向けた司法機関による保護者援助制度の導入や一時保護所に特化された設備・運営基準の策定も求められる。

［中村強士　2017年7月19日］

『日本児童福祉協会編・刊『子ども・家族の相談援助をするために――市町村児童家庭相談援助指針・児童相談所運営指針』（2005）』▽『斉藤幸芳・藤井常文編著『児童相談所はいま――児童福祉司からの現場報告』（2012・ミネルヴァ書房）』▽『才村純・芝野松次郎・松原康雄編著『児童や家庭に対する支援と子ども家庭福祉制度』第3版（2015・ミネルヴァ書房）』

[参照項目] | 家庭裁判所 | 児童福祉 | 児童福祉法 | 福祉事務所

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