The Nippon Foundation and Nagano Prefecture Sign Partnership Agreement
The Nippon Foundation and Nagano Prefecture signed an agreement to promote foster care. They will introduce the US-born 'QPI' and support local groups to raise the foster care placement rate by 2029.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 15, 2026 at 19:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 15, 2026 at 10:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 19, 2026 at 09:53 (95h 21m after Collected)
The Nippon Foundation (Minato-ku, Tokyo, Chairman Takeju Ogata) and Nagano Prefecture (Governor Shuichi Abe) have signed a partnership agreement upon launching initiatives to popularize and promote upbringings in families via foster care and family homes, as well as special adoptions, within Nagano Prefecture.
▶ Nagano Prefecture Governor Abe (left) and The Nippon Foundation Executive Director Sato (right) signing the agreement
For social care provided to children who cannot live with their birth parents due to abuse, death or illness of a parent, or economic reasons, family-based care, which offers an environment closer to a real home, is considered more desirable compared to institutional care where staff rotate in a group living setting. While the revised Child Welfare Act of 2016 established the principle of 'prioritizing family-based care' and local governments have been advancing initiatives, the foster care placement rate remains at a national average of 26.3% (as of the end of FY2024). Although the national government has notified prefectures and designated cities of the target placement rates and achievement timelines to be aimed for nationwide, there is a gap between the reality and the plans formulated by local governments.
Under this agreement, the current initiative implemented in collaboration with the prefecture, child consultation centers, and private organizations aims to improve the foster care placement rate—which remains at approximately 21.4% as of the end of FY2024—and to build a model case that can be expanded to other prefectures by FY2029. In promoting this project, in addition to utilizing the knowledge gained from joint projects with municipalities (Yamanashi Prefecture, Oita Prefecture, and Fukuoka City) with which the Foundation signed partnership agreements in 2021, we will jointly advance the development of an advanced system to realize the best interests of children. This includes the implementation of 'QPI (Quality Parenting Initiative)', a US-born approach to improving the quality of family care, which will be introduced in Japan for the first time; the launch of the 'Short-term Emergency Foster Care Program for Infants', which will be the first in the prefecture; and subsidies for three organizations in the prefecture (Social Welfare Corporation Hoenkai, Social Welfare Corporation Tsurumine Fukushikai, and Specified Non-Profit Corporation Free Kids Village) working on establishing foster care support centers and developing regional family support systems.
■ Comments from Stakeholders
▶ Shuichi Abe (Governor of Nagano Prefecture)
While we are promoting initiatives such as foster care placement based on the Nagano Prefecture Social Care Promotion Plan formulated in March last year, signing an agreement with The Nippon Foundation allows us to provide strong support to private operators. We will strengthen the support system through collaboration between the prefecture and private operators, while utilizing the knowledge of The Nippon Foundation, and work to secure a permanent nurturing environment for children. For the bright future of children, the prefecture is determined to work so that this project becomes a national model.
▶ Hideo Sato (Executive Director, The Nippon Foundation)
The number of consultations to child consultation centers remains high, and the number of suicides among elementary, junior high, and high school students has reached a record high, placing Japanese children in severe situations. What such children need is an adult who is always with them and to grow up being themselves in a home. Together with Nagano Prefecture, and by utilizing the knowledge cultivated through our Foundation's collaborations with local governments so far, we want to make this a model project for the entire country by also emphasizing the voices of children and youth who have experienced social care, as well as foster parents and birth parents.
■ Background and the Foundation's Initiatives
In Japan, there are approximately 42,000 children who cannot live with their birth parents and require social care (Children and Families Agency, Support Bureau, Family Welfare Division, 'Toward the Promotion of Social Care', March 2026). About 80% of these children live in institutions such as infant homes and children's homes, and only about 20% live in family-like environments such as with foster parents or through adoption. On the other hand, internationally, the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children have the right to grow up in a family, and in Western countries including the UK, the US, and Australia, care in families such as foster care is the mainstream.
Under these circumstances, Japan also clarified the principle of prioritizing family-based care for children through the revised Child Welfare Act of 2016. In 2017, the national government (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) published the 'New Social Care Vision'. The government currently indicates target foster care placement rates of 75% or more for infants and 50% or more for school-age children and older by FY2029. In response, each prefecture has formulated a social care promotion plan and set its own target values for the foster care placement rate, but in reality, the national average remains at 29.4% for children under 3, 36.3% for children from 3 to pre-school age, and 23.9% for school-age children and older (all as of the end of FY2024).
The Nippon Foundation has been working on promoting family-based care, such as special adoption and foster care systems, based on the idea that it is desirable for children to live in warm families. This project aims to support local governments aiming to achieve the national goals as models, verify the outcomes and challenges, and popularize its methods and outcomes nationwide by signing agreements with local governments across the country.
▶ Nagano Prefecture Governor Abe (left) and The Nippon Foundation Executive Director Sato (right) signing the agreement
For social care provided to children who cannot live with their birth parents due to abuse, death or illness of a parent, or economic reasons, family-based care, which offers an environment closer to a real home, is considered more desirable compared to institutional care where staff rotate in a group living setting. While the revised Child Welfare Act of 2016 established the principle of 'prioritizing family-based care' and local governments have been advancing initiatives, the foster care placement rate remains at a national average of 26.3% (as of the end of FY2024). Although the national government has notified prefectures and designated cities of the target placement rates and achievement timelines to be aimed for nationwide, there is a gap between the reality and the plans formulated by local governments.
Under this agreement, the current initiative implemented in collaboration with the prefecture, child consultation centers, and private organizations aims to improve the foster care placement rate—which remains at approximately 21.4% as of the end of FY2024—and to build a model case that can be expanded to other prefectures by FY2029. In promoting this project, in addition to utilizing the knowledge gained from joint projects with municipalities (Yamanashi Prefecture, Oita Prefecture, and Fukuoka City) with which the Foundation signed partnership agreements in 2021, we will jointly advance the development of an advanced system to realize the best interests of children. This includes the implementation of 'QPI (Quality Parenting Initiative)', a US-born approach to improving the quality of family care, which will be introduced in Japan for the first time; the launch of the 'Short-term Emergency Foster Care Program for Infants', which will be the first in the prefecture; and subsidies for three organizations in the prefecture (Social Welfare Corporation Hoenkai, Social Welfare Corporation Tsurumine Fukushikai, and Specified Non-Profit Corporation Free Kids Village) working on establishing foster care support centers and developing regional family support systems.
■ Comments from Stakeholders
▶ Shuichi Abe (Governor of Nagano Prefecture)
While we are promoting initiatives such as foster care placement based on the Nagano Prefecture Social Care Promotion Plan formulated in March last year, signing an agreement with The Nippon Foundation allows us to provide strong support to private operators. We will strengthen the support system through collaboration between the prefecture and private operators, while utilizing the knowledge of The Nippon Foundation, and work to secure a permanent nurturing environment for children. For the bright future of children, the prefecture is determined to work so that this project becomes a national model.
▶ Hideo Sato (Executive Director, The Nippon Foundation)
The number of consultations to child consultation centers remains high, and the number of suicides among elementary, junior high, and high school students has reached a record high, placing Japanese children in severe situations. What such children need is an adult who is always with them and to grow up being themselves in a home. Together with Nagano Prefecture, and by utilizing the knowledge cultivated through our Foundation's collaborations with local governments so far, we want to make this a model project for the entire country by also emphasizing the voices of children and youth who have experienced social care, as well as foster parents and birth parents.
■ Background and the Foundation's Initiatives
In Japan, there are approximately 42,000 children who cannot live with their birth parents and require social care (Children and Families Agency, Support Bureau, Family Welfare Division, 'Toward the Promotion of Social Care', March 2026). About 80% of these children live in institutions such as infant homes and children's homes, and only about 20% live in family-like environments such as with foster parents or through adoption. On the other hand, internationally, the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children have the right to grow up in a family, and in Western countries including the UK, the US, and Australia, care in families such as foster care is the mainstream.
Under these circumstances, Japan also clarified the principle of prioritizing family-based care for children through the revised Child Welfare Act of 2016. In 2017, the national government (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) published the 'New Social Care Vision'. The government currently indicates target foster care placement rates of 75% or more for infants and 50% or more for school-age children and older by FY2029. In response, each prefecture has formulated a social care promotion plan and set its own target values for the foster care placement rate, but in reality, the national average remains at 29.4% for children under 3, 36.3% for children from 3 to pre-school age, and 23.9% for school-age children and older (all as of the end of FY2024).
The Nippon Foundation has been working on promoting family-based care, such as special adoption and foster care systems, based on the idea that it is desirable for children to live in warm families. This project aims to support local governments aiming to achieve the national goals as models, verify the outcomes and challenges, and popularize its methods and outcomes nationwide by signing agreements with local governments across the country.