A NATIONWIDE SURVEY OF DAY-CARE FOR CHILDREN WITH MENTAL-RETARDATION IN JAPAN

We conducted the first nationwide survey on day-cares (DCs) for mental ly retarded preschoolers in Japan by sending a questionnaire to 686 su ch facilities, 460 (67.1%) of which responded. There were three types of DCs. Type I was a small facility, financed by a local government bu t not established by the Child Welfare Act. Type II was a non-resident ial facility founded by the Act and usually run by a private welfare o rganization. Type III was a unit in a large rehabilitation center for various handicapped persons established and run by a local government. We proposed a model DC having 9 staff members to be placed nearby con sumers to improve the early treatment system for mentally retarded chi ldren in Japan.