Establishment and Administrative System of Regional Childcare-Center in Local Governments throughout the Country

The object is a child care center established by local government, and its activities were studied. The findings are as follows: (1) 90% of the local governments run child care centers within their nursery schools, while 10% of the local governments provide the centers with independent facilities for child care. (2) Some private nursery schools are commissioned by local government to offer their services. (3) In most cases, a child care center is established in an area where a junior high school is located. In some cases, however, the said area is larger than a junior high district. (4) Most of full-time workers are child care specialists. (5) With 20% of those local governments that run a child care center together with a nursery school, the facilities specifically for child care are not provided. (6) The services or events offered by child care centers include nursery consultations, parent classes, and space and occasion for children to play at. (7) In most cases, the child care services centering around the center are not run in coordination with other organs; it is only less than half of the local governments that have coordinate partners. It is desirable that they will expand their services in that direction. (Received January 14, 2005; Accepted in revised form July 28, 2005)