Independence Issues for Foster Children: Focusing on the History of the Foster Care System and Fostering Method

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K13761
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 08020:Social welfare-related
• Research Institution: Shibaura Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Tanaka Yukako 芝浦工業大学, システム理工学部, 准教授 (70707174)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 社会的養護 / アフターケア / 保護受託者 / 自立援助ホーム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study focused mainly on Hogojutakusha（vocational parent) system and aftercare homes, and examined changes in issues related to the independence of foster children from the postwar to the period of high economic growth, and from the 1990s to the present. As a result, this study clarified the reasons for the registration of Hogojutakusha, the characteristics of vocational guidance, and the reasons for the sharp decline in the registration and entrustment of the Hogojutakusha system and its abolition during the period of rapid economic growth. The private aftercare home that appeared around the same time as the decline of the Hogojutakusha system were community-based group homes. This study pointed out that although Jiritu Enjo Home (self-reliance support homes for children) have been positioned as a national child and family welfare policy since the mid-2000s, the vertical division between in-care and aftercare that the aftercare home have been concerned about still exists.

Free Research Field

社会福祉史、教育史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、これまで明らかにされてこなかった保護受託者制度とアフターケア施設について焦点を当て、里子を始めとする社会的養護の子どもの「出口」問題への対応と課題を歴史的に明らかにしたという点で、学術的意義を持つ。昨今「社会的養育」の急速な推進が図られており、これまで社会的養護の子どもの「出口」対策に役割を果たしてきた制度や団体に目を向けることは急務である。保護受託者やアフターケア施設の担った役割と課題を明らかにすることで、現代の子どもの状況に合った制度や実践を構築するための示唆を得ることができたと考える。