Children and Families Agency Disability Support Portal

The Children and Families Agency (こども家庭庁) is Japan’s national government body for children’s policy, and its disability support for children (障害児支援) pages set out how the country supports children with disabilities and their families from the earliest stage, when a disability is only suspected, through to school graduation. Support is meant to be delivered close to home rather than only in specialist centers far away. For a foreign parent trying to understand the shape of the system, this is a useful map of how the pieces are meant to fit together.

The two main pillars of the formal system are day-use disability services for children (障害児通所支援), such as child development support (児童発達支援) and after-school day services (放課後等デイサービス), and residential facilities for children with disabilities (障害児入所施設). The agency also runs dedicated support policies for medically complex children (医療的ケア児) and their families, and coordinates with the education ministry and health ministry so that special-needs education and the later move toward employment connect without gaps. A linked related site covers the medical information sharing system for medically complex children.

This is a policy and information portal rather than a place that provides services or takes appointments, so parents use it to understand programs and budgets, then approach their own municipality for actual enrollment. Much of the detail sits in downloadable PDFs on disability service policy, developmental disability support, and medical-care-child support. The agency is based in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda ward, Tokyo, and its policies apply nationwide. The site is in Japanese only, though browser translation handles it reasonably well for English-speaking parents wanting an overview of the national framework.