Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

Each local authority had its own policy and measures
in order to accord with the situation of each town,
so policies and measures might be the same or
different from one locality to the next. At this point,
it is important to remember that there is no nationallevel
policy regarding homelessness, and the central
government plays virtually no role in addressing the
issue other than allocating budget. As such, each local
authority should be considered individually. However,
when considering the policy framework of each of the
five cities studied, it was discovered that each did indeed
have a social welfare policy that more or less emphasized
six points:
First, provide jobs. The authorities emphasized setting
up job-providing centers in areas with great numbers
of homeless: Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Nagoya, and
Kyoto. The centers contacted agencies and companies
that wanted labor and let the homeless register and gave
them job-search cards. They could go to apply for jobs
at the centers everyday. The centers aimed to provide
jobs that suited the homeless and to solve the problem
of private job search businesses charging the homeless
service charges for the provision of these employment
services. However, the jobs provided by these centers are
still not sufficient to meet the needs of the unemployed
homeless.
Second, provide welfare money for living. This type of
welfare is specified by law for the unemployed, including
the homeless. But the requirements for eligibility
specified include a certain period of joblessness, age,
and settlement of the unemployed, and many other
conditions that make the homeless ineligible to receive
these welfare benefits. Some cities like Yokohama try
to supplement this assistance by providing the living
money in addition to food coupons and daily use
articles. The homeless receive living money and coupons
to buy food and articles from the shops that participate
in this program of the Yokohama municipality.
Third, provide housing. This was a welfare program to
give a chance to the homeless to have temporary shelter
during the period of unemployment while seeking
a job. The particular form the program took differed
from city to city. In Tokyo, there were cheap apartment
programs. The authorities allocated cheap private
apartments to the homeless. The authorities paid 94%
of the rent while the homeless paid 6%; they were
permitted to stay for a period of two years. In Osaka
and Nagoya, there were temporary shelters for the
homeless. The houses were divided into small rooms for
each person, and included common kitchens, toilets,
THE EMPOWERING THE POOR AND VULNERABLE
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laundry facilities and recreation rooms. The permitted
period of stay was two years. The programs were good
but could not meet the demand of all the homeless.
These programs were mostly designed for the homeless
who stayed in tents. Those who wanted to join the
program had to move out of their tents. The homeless
who wished to remain in the tents questioned why the
program did not provide these shelters to the homeless
who slept in public places and had no tent, and were
suspicious that the authorities just planned to remove
the tents of the homeless from the parks and riversides.
At the same time, some homeless did not support this
program because they think that joblessness is the
primary problem that the authorities must solve. They
reasoned that when people had jobs, they would be able
to afford housing by themselves. In addition, they also
feared that after staying in the provided shelters for two
years, they would still be jobless and would thus have
to return to being homeless again. And some others
did not agree with the rules of the temporary shelters,
such as the ban on raising pets. Some homeless who had
stayed in the temporary shelters and moved out to stay
in public places again said that they are jobless and they
have no freedom when they stay there.
Fourth, health care services. The authorities built
healthcare centers in the areas that are crowded with
homeless people. The centers aimed to provide checkups
and give advice about healthcare. There were also
centers for the elderly to meet and conduct various
activities for relaxation. These centers also provided
money for healthcare for the elderly.
Fifth, mental health care services. There were centers
for providing advice to the homeless who had mental
illnesses arising from joblessness, loneliness and alcohol
addiction.
Finally, miscellaneous services such as haircutting,
vocational training, musical entertainment, etc., that
aimed to serve and support the meetings and recreation
of the homeless.
Because the central government had done virtually
nothing to address the issue directly, it had become
the responsibility and role of the local administrations
to make policies, measures and plans that would solve
the problems. Local administrations also served as
operation bodies that coordinated with NGOs, religious
groups and business groups to get them involved in
solving the problem of homelessness. Some NGOs and
religious groups joined the programs, while others did
not because they did not agree with some policies and
measures, particularly on the housing issue.
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows