What is child development support?
Updated: July 2026, 2
What is child development support?
Child development support is a daily support service for children with disabilities.
For preschool children with disabilities, we provide guidance on basic movements in daily life,
How to communicate, adapt to group life, etc.
The main focus of this service is to provide training needed to improve daily life skills and to promote interaction with society.
This is one type of day care support for children with disabilities, and due to the revision of the Child Welfare Act enacted in 1,
As a newly born service, it is now steadily being rolled out across the country.
Child development support has become increasingly popular due to the recent increase in the number of businesses providing services.
There is a lot of information floating around on the Internet.
For this reason, many people have the impression that child development support is complicated and difficult to understand at first glance.
In reality, it's very simple.
This menu provides easy-to-understand explanations about child development support.
Always keeping an eye on the latest legal amendments,
We support our customers in a reliable and speedy manner.
Differentiation of business establishments due to revisions to the Child Welfare Act
Target of service usage
In child development support, the target users of services are:
Preschool children, that is, children aged 0 to 6 before entering elementary school, are targeted.
As a similar day care support service,
Examples include "day services such as after school,"
After-school day services are available to school children aged 6 to 18.
The major difference between child development support and after-school day services is the target age.
Comparison chart of child development support and after-school day services
| Service type | Target | role |
| Child development support | Preschool children (before entering elementary school) | Treatment that promotes physical and mental development and develops skills essential to daily life, such as language and physical strength. |
| After school day service | School-age children (up to 18 years old) | Treatment with an eye toward further education and employment |
In addition, in child development support,
Children with physical disabilities and children with mental disabilities, including children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, are eligible.
Regardless of whether or not you have a disability certificate, if it is determined by a doctor, etc. that there is a need for medical treatment,
Another major feature is that it is possible to use this service.
Types of child development support
What is often confused is the difference in the types of child development support.
Child development support can be broadly classified into the following two categories.
・Child development support office
This is a facility where preschool children with disabilities can receive developmental support in their local area.
In addition to supporting preschool children with disabilities, we also provide support to the families of preschool children with disabilities.
In addition, we aim to establish as many child development support offices in nearby areas as possible.
The facility also aims to expand the number of business establishments.
Therefore, it is smaller than the Child Development Support Center.
As of January 3, there are said to be 1 business establishments.
*June 3, 6 Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
Excerpt from Material 1 of the 4st “Study meeting on support for day care facilities for children with disabilities (held online)”
・Child Development Support Center
Child Development Support Centers play a central role in child development support in each region.
If a child development support center is compared to a "city hall," a child development support office can be considered a "branch."
Unlike child development support offices, they are much larger in scale and offer a wider variety of services.
For example, at a child development support center, in addition to the services of a child development support office,
Services that allow families who do not use the facility to consult,
We visit daycare centers where children with disabilities attend and provide advice based on our specialized knowledge and experience.
It functions as a core rehabilitation support facility in the region.
As of January 3, there are approximately 1 child development support centers.
1% of municipalities have one or more child development support centers (as of the end of 35).
It can be said that the situation has not yet been developed in accordance with the Child Welfare Act.
*June 3, 6 Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
Excerpt from Material 1 of the 4st “Study meeting on support for day care facilities for children with disabilities (held online)”
Main differences between child development support office and child development support center
Nationwide Support
