Services and Supports for Persons with Disabilities Act (Act No. 123 of 2005)
Chapter III Community Life Support Service
Article 77 (Municipal Community Life Support Service)
(1) Municipalities shall provide the following services as community life support services pursuant to the provision of Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Service which provides consultation for persons with
(i) disabilities, or others, guardians of children with disabilities, or caretakers of persons with disabilities concerning various regional problems regarding support for persons with disabilities, or others, provides necessary information and advice or other benefits prescribed in the Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as well as provides necessary assistance for advocating the rights of persons with disabilities, or others, as well as conduct liaison and coordination with institutes concerned to prevent abuse to persons with disabilities, or others and to recognize such abuse at an early stage so that persons with disabilities, or others can live independent daily or social life according to their respective abilities and aptitudes as using welfare service for persons with disabilities and other service.
(ii) Services which dispatch sign language interpreters, etc. (means to mediate the following persons with disabilities, or others and other persons with a sign language or other means prescribed in Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) for such persons with disabilities, or others having difficulties communicating due to disabilities of auditory sense, language functions, phonetic functions or other disabilities or persons with disabilities, or others who have other problems that interfere with the enjoyment of daily life; and provide or lend tools to afford benefit in daily life which is specified by Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare; or provide other benefit prescribed in Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
(iii) Transportation support service.
(iv) Service that offers persons with disabilities, others opportunities for creative or productive activities and which promotes their interaction with their communities and provides other conveniences prescribed in Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare by enabling them to commute to community activity support centers or other facilities prescribed in Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
(2) Prefectures may perform a part of service listed in the preceding paragraph on behalf of municipalities by hearing the opinions of such municipalities concerned, considering development status of implementing system of such municipal community life support service and other actual conditions thereof.
(3) In addition to the businesses listed in each item of paragraph 1, municipalities may conduct businesses which have the persons with disabilities who are presently searching for residence utilize rooms or other equipment at low cost as well as afford necessary benefit for daily life, and necessary businesses for persons with disabilities to live independent daily and social life according to their respective abilities and aptitudes.
Article 78 (Community Life Support Service by Prefectures)
(1) Pursuant to the provision of Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare prefectures shall provide the services prescribed in Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as consultation support services which need especially high expertise and other services requiring large-scale treatment among the services listed in item 1 of paragraph 1 of the preceding Article as community life support services.
(2) In addition to what is prescribed in the preceding paragraph, prefectures may provide services for training persons who provide disability welfare services or consultation support or the persons who provide those persons with necessary directions, so as to improve the quality of disability welfare services and consultation support, or other services necessary to enable persons with disabilities or others to live independent daily and social lives according to their abilities and aptitudes.