A nationwide survey of day-care for children with mental retardation in Japan.

We conducted the first nationwide survey on day-cares (DCs) for mentally retarded preschoolers in Japan by sending a questionnaire to 686 such facilities, 460 (67.1%) of which responded. There were three types of DCs. Type I was a small facility, financed by a local government but not established by the Child Welfare Act. Type II was a non-residential facility founded by the Act and usually run by a private welfare organization. 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 consumers to improve the early treatment system for mentally retarded children in Japan.