[MHLW] “5th meeting of the Study Group on Improving Training for Workplace Adaptation Assistants” held

On January 20th, 2021, the MHLW held the" 5th meeting of the Study Group on Improving Training for Workplace Adaptation Assistants” and released a draft report of the meeting. The study group was established on August 27th, 2020 to review the curriculum and training methods for workplace adaptation assistants (hereinafter referred to as “job coaches”) to meet the current needs and improve their capacities. The job coach training system began in 2006 and is operated by the Japan Organization for Employment of the Elderly, Persons with Disabilities and Job Seekers (JEED) and other training institutions designated by the MHLW. The curriculum of the training was reviewed once by the "Study Group on the Development of Human Resources to Support General Employment of Persons with Disabilities" in 2008, however, no substantial changes have been made during more than 10 years since. There has been great progress in the employment of persons with disabilities over the past 10 years, such as a remarkable increase in the employment of persons with mental disorders and developmental disabilities, an increase in and diversification of employment-related welfare services, establishment of new services in this field, etc. Moreover, the roles and skills required of job coaches have also been transformed in accordance with these changes. The draft report proposed the direction for the review of the curriculum and training methods for job coach training. These are the main points to be added to the curriculum or changed.

  1. The idea of ​​vocational rehabilitation and the process of employment support will be integrated. The role of the job coach in the process of employment support will also be clarified.
  2. In response to the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and policy changes to make the provision of reasonable accommodation mandatory, "Protection of the rights of persons with disabilities in the workplace" will be added to the role of visiting / corporate-based job coaches.
  3. In order to cultivate a better understanding of the characteristics of disabilities by type, information on characteristics by type and the associated vocational challenges will be added.
  4. In order to understand the clients’ intentions better, the following sentence “Listen to the client’s opinion directly if this is possible” will be added to the training items regarding “Types of disabilities and their vocational challenges” and “Practicum in a support center.”
  5. "Outline of available subsidy system" and "Industrial Safety and Health Act" will be added to the items related to employment support.
  6. “Importance of stress management" will be added to the basic training items as stress management is considered crucial for job retention.
  7. “Important points for interviews” will be added to the training on assessments, as the job coaches often assess clients’ conditions and achievements through interviews.
  8. "Behavioral observation in the workplace and feedback” will be added to the training related to job analysis and work guidance.

For more information, please visit the following link (Japanese only): https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/shingi/jc-kenkyu.html

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