Japanese government snarls at foster child agencies
Tens of foster children in Japan recently became targets of greedy foster child agencies.
By Ko Dong-hwan
Japanese government has set off to investigate two foster child agencies that allegedly made excessive amounts of profit.
According to Yomiuri Shimbun, Babylife, a foster child agency based in Tokyo, has delivered 41 foster children into cares of new families for the past three years and in return grabbed 33 million yen (370 million won) that covers actual expenses it spent.
It also received from 41 foster parent clients monetary donations worth 46 million yen (520 million won). The largest amount it profited off a client was 1.87 million yen (21 million won).
Another agency placed 46 children into foster homes for the past three years and earned actual expense-covering gratification worth 6 million yen with additional donation profits.
Babylife denied that it ever received donations from its clients, while the other agency admitted that it tacitly demanded its clients’ donations.
The Children’s Welfare Law of Japan prohibits foster child agencies from operating business with the purpose of making profits but allows them to receive donations or means of voluntary gratification.
Nonetheless, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare concluded that the scale of monetary earnings profited by the agencies goes beyond an agreeable limitation of the law. The ministry previously ordered local governments to perform reality check targeting foster child agencies on June 28, and plans to subpoena the two agencies for further investigation.
As Japan’s national birth rate has been on decline, Japanese have increasingly sought for foster child adoption for the past couple of years.