[Current status of the use of Welfare Centers Japan by foreign children and pregnant women living in Japan].

This survey was conducted to determine how Welfare Centers throughout Japan were addressing the health care and welfare issues of foreign children and pregnant women living in Japan, and to analyze statistics (1988-1992) on the number of consultations by foreigners living in Japan. Questionnaires were mailed to 1220 Welfare Centers throughout Japan in mid August 1993, and responses from 562 centers were received. The survey conducted among these centers revealed the following information: 1) About half of the Welfare Centers responding had had consultations with foreign children and pregnant women, and about 60% of them had encountered difficulties, including language problems. 2) Comparison of rural and urban areas revealed that a higher percentage of Welfare Centers in the urban areas had had foreigners as clients. Welfare Centers were more likely to be accessed by foreigners when there was a large foreign population in the area under their domain. About 90% of the Welfare Centers in large cities had been consulted by foreigners. 3) Only about 30% of the Welfare Centers responding had employees who were competent in foreign languages, and guidebooks in foreign languages were available at less than 10% of the Welfare Centers. In most of the Welfare Centers that had staff competent in a foreign language, the language of competency was English. About 30% of the Welfare Centers responded that they could obtain the service of interpreters when they were consulted by foreigners who spoke languages which they could not understand. 4) The responding Welfare Centers were found to have had consultations by foreign children and pregnant women from all over the world. Consultations by South American and Asian nationals were found to be increasing rapidly. With respect to visa status, an increase was noted in the number of people who had married Japanese spouses. As to the age of children, the majority of those seen at Welfare Centers were infants. 5) There was an increased number of cases related to application of the Child Welfare Law, and the Maternal and Child Health Law.