Child counseling workers cannot respond to rise in cases

Japan Press Weekly

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Child counseling workers cannot respond to rise in cases

The number of deaths from child abuse shows no sign of abating. Child counseling centers in Japan are publicly-funded facilities that respond to child abuse cases and juvenile delinquency. In FY 2008 alone, they received 364,414 call for help, and 42,664 were in regard to child abuse, which is more than six times the number in 1998.

Poor government standard

Each time a horrific child-abuse incident occurred, people called for increasing the number of child welfare caseworkers. The number increased by 1,000 to 2,358 over the past ten years (1998-2008), meeting the government standard of one for every 50,000 to 80,000 residents as required in the Child Welfare Act.

However, the government standard itself falls short of the number actually needed to respond to the sharp increase in the number of consultations needed. Compared to other countries, for example, one child welfare expert for every 2,500 children in the U.S., 5,000 in Britain, and 900 in Germany, it is not too much to say that Japan’s standard of one for every 8,200-131,000 children is almost useless. Social workers at the child welfare centers have been overwhelmed with too many cases.

In Osaka, one worker has to deal with 78 child abuse cases simultaneously. Osaka introduced the 24-hour response system for child abuse in FY 2006. The number of calls and rescues at night, on weekends, and on other public holidays in Osaka was 308 in FY 2006, 447 in 2007, 649 in 2008, and 925 in 2009. Osaka prefectural government workers in charge of child abuse work more than 40 hours in overtime each month on average, going up to 95 hours a month.

Kamigaso Tamotsu, a child welfare specialist hired by the Osaka prefectural government, said, “We work on too many cases at one time and are so busy that some of us must seek medical attention for physical and mental health problems. We cannot respond to emergencies on a round-the-clock basis. Sometimes, for example, I receive a call at two in the morning, go to the center to deal with it, come home at around four o’clock in the morning, and receive another call. We then have to go to the center for our routine work from nine in the morning.”

In many cases, consultations on child abuse are extremely serious. Three or four child welfare workers in Osaka are diagnosed with severe depression every year and have to take a long leave of absence from their jobs in the attempt to recover.

Responsibility for protecting children’s human rights

“Behind the increase in child abuse cases is the increase in poverty, so it’s not easy to solve the problems of child abuse without addressing the underlying issues,” said Kamigaso.

Kawasaki Fumihiko, an expert in this field, said, “Protecting children’s human rights is the responsibility of central and local governments. Sometimes the centers must forcibly separate children from their parents against their will. It is a field that public authorities have an important role to play, but due to understaffing at all child counseling centers it is difficult to carry out this role. The government must take steps to increase the number of public employees in charge of child welfare.”

- Akahata, July 18, 2010