May 24 (Japan Times) - The health ministry plans to raise subsidies for governments that bolster staff at child consultation centers to help them deal with the surge in child-support demand caused by the coronavirus, informed sources say.
The ministry hopes the move will help towns, cities and prefectures better deal with the increased risk of child abuse caused by their stay-at-home requests amid the pandemic and offer temporary shelters to children if their parents become infected, they said.
It plans to earmark about ¥4 billion in related spending in a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2020, the sources said.
The ministry plans to increase subsidies if governments increase the number of workers as well as doctors, nurses and lawyers. The workers include child welfare staffers who give support directly to children and parents.
Subsidies will also climb if governments establish new consultation centers, the sources said.
In addition, the ministry will give financial support to private groups that run children's cafeterias and deliver meals to children, to strengthen patrols in communities.
